Microgrid Protection: R&D to Meet the Challenges to Come [In My View]

This issue is dedicated to the topic of microgrid protection in the electric power industry. The importance of microgrids is reflected in their ability to enhance the resilience of critical facilities against high-impact events, such as those caused by extreme weather. These days, microgrids often employ multiple distributed energy resources (DERs) from renewable energy sources, most commonly solar in combination with storage. The protection system is a critical component of power system operation and responsible for identifying faults in the system or microgrid and isolating them before additional equipment is damaged. Microgrids are often connected to electric power distribution networks and operated interactively with distribution utilities, making microgrid protection and protection coordination with the main grid increasingly complex. Another layer of protection complexity is added if a microgrid is deployed on a secondary distribution network.