Advanced energy management system based on PV and load forecasting for load smoothing and optimized peak shaving of islanded power systems

Photovoltaic (PV) systems constitute one of the most promising renewable energy sources, especially for warm and sunny regions like the southern-European islands. In such isolated systems, it is important to utilize clean energy in an optimal way in order to achieve high renewable penetration. In this operational strategy, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is most often used to transfer an amount of the stored renewable energy to the peak hours. This study presents an integrated energy management methodology for a PV-BESS energy system targeting to make the load curve of the conventional fuel based units as smooth as possible. The presented methodology includes prediction modules for short-term load and PV production forecasting using artificial neural, and a novel, optimized peak shaving algorithm capable of performing each day’s maximum amount of peak shaving and smoothing level simultaneously. The algorithm is coupled with the overall system model in the Modelica environment, on the basis of which dynamic simulations are performed. The simulation results are compared with the previous version of the algorithm that had been developed in CERTH, and it is revealed that the system’s performance is drastically improved. The overall approach proves that in such islanding systems, a PV-BESS is a suitable option to flatten the load of the conventional fuel based units, achieve steadier operation and increase the share of renewable energy penetration to the grid