Modeling and Reliability Assessment of Microgrids Including Renewable Distributed Generation

This paper presents a sequential Monte Carlo (MC) method for the evaluation of the distribution network reliability, by considering the formation of microgrids supplying different portions of the network. The MC technique considers interfering near-coincident faults, as well as a mix of load profiles (residential, industrial and commercial) and renewable generation patterns (wind, photovoltaic, geothermal and waste- to-energy). Unavailability of distributed generators as well as mobile generation systems is checked in the model. In addition to this, the model takes into account two initial configurations (covering peak and off-peak hours, respectively), for getting information about the variation of the reliability when the network is operated with an intraday reconfiguration strategy. In this framework, the main challenge is the improvement of the continuity of supply level in distribution systems, allowing autonomous and intentional islanded subsystems (e.g., microgrids). The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown in a real network