Smart Mini Grid: An innovative distributed generation based energy system

With the depleting energy resources, enhancing energy-security and energy-access, particularly in emerging economies is one of the major challenges that one has to deal with. In addition to managing the existing energy resources, generating power effectively and intelligently is an equally important agenda at the national level in India. Supplementing the establishment of large power plants from conventional energy sources, there is also a need to focus on distributed small scale generation of power particularly from renewable energy sources. Although Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) need additional infrastructure and investment to connect them to the grid, these technologies obviate the need for an expensive transmission system and reduce transmission and distribution (T&D) losses. A better way to realize the emerging potential of distributed generation is to take a system approach which views generation and associated loads as a subsystem or a `Micro-grid' [1]. During disturbances, the generation and corresponding loads can separate from the distribution system to isolate the Micro-grid's load from the disturbance without harming the transmission grid's integrity. To deal with these crucial issues of power and energy, the more appropriate solution is the Smart Mini Grid system which can optimally and intelligently manage the load and distributed generation resources so that maximum utilization of the renewable energy resources with a lower installed renewable energy capacity and smaller batteries can be ensured by coordinating the energy demands with the electricity production, fossil fuel generation can be minimized through the more efficient control of energy loads and power quality can be improved The paper presents the relevance of Smart Mini Grid as well as its existing challenges. It has also briefly pointed out the major initiatives taken by various institutions/industry in the smart mini/micro-grid sectors in India. The main purpose of this paper is to present the design of TERI's own Smart Mini Grid system which integrated various distributed energy sources such as Solar PV, small wind electric generator Biomass gassifier system, Diesel-Set (DG) and showcase how such implementation can be used in other similar applications for improving the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of the overall system.