Direct Load Control in Microgrid to Enhance the Performance of Integrated Resources Planning

Network planning usually does not take detailed load management into consideration due to its complexity and uncertainty in nature. However, this tradition can be changed in microgrid since the load compositions in microgrid is more specific and controllable. In addition, the development of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) provides a more convenient mechanism for data collection and system control. This paper presents an integrated resources planning (IRP) model based on optimal direct load control (DLC) (such as the control of the air conditioning load) in microgrid for load shifting and peak shaving to decrease investments and minimize total social costs. DLC model and the related distributed generators (including PV, wind turbine, diesel engine and battery) models are described first. Then an algorithm to combine the microgrid planning and DLC is presented. The case results show that the proposed model provides an effective approach for the least cost planning in microgrid by using load management as competitive virtual power sources in system planning.