PhD seminar - Elham Karimi

Candidate

Elham Karimi

Title

Optimal Planning of Renewable Energy-based Microgrids for Remote Communities Considering the Frequency and Voltage Regulation Constraints

Supervisor

Mehrdad Kazerani

Abstract

Electricity is one of the key factors driving the development and expansion of modern societies, and electric power systems are the backbone infrastructure for economic growth of the countries, nations and communities. However, billions of people all over the world have no or limited access to electricity and are deprived of the basic services. Furthermore, there are many communities that rely on small-scale, stand-alone grids to supply their electric power demands, and in some cases it is quite challenging to keep those grids operating without service interruption. The cost of operating stand-alone grids is also another major issue which impacts the availability of a reliable and secure power network. Hence, many organizations, communities and governments around the world are looking into alternative options for electrification of remote communities by considering renewable resources such as wind and solar power.

This research investigates the feasibility of renewable energy deployment in remote communities in northern Ontario and specifically Kasabonika Lake First Nation community, by conducting a comprehensive simulation study based on real measured data, and evaluates the impact of economic, technical and operation constraints on the planning of a stand-alone microgrid involving conventional generation sources and renewable energy resources. This work suggests that further investigation should be done on the potential impacts of the integration of renewable resource on system’s operation constraints such as frequency and voltage, and the results justify the importance of such investigations.

Detailed studies on the effects of system regulation and operation constraints on the planning and sizing of the microgrid are investigated. Energy storage systems are considered alongside with their operation and control as one of the important components of microgrids and their impact on planning studies is analyzed. Furthermore, the impact of renewable energy integration on carbon footprint reduction is evaluated.