Approach to an Emulation Model to Evaluate the Behavior and Impact of Microgrids in Isolated Communities

• Main Authors: Carlos M. Paredes, Andrés F. Bayona, Diego Martínez, Alfons Crespo, Apolinar González, José Simo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: environmental assessment; isolated communities; microgrid; socio-economic impact; socio-technological impact; techno-economic assessment
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/17/5316

In microgrid projects, social ownership involves aspects beyond their operation that may compromise the sustainability of the system. For this reason, the development of analysis methods to assess the feasibility and impact during the design stages of these solutions is of growing interest. Recent studies have proposed methods that allow an individual analysis of technological components and social behaviors. However, a complete evaluation of the performance and the impact of these projects should allow the simultaneous evaluation of the behavior of these subsystems, allowing the analysis of their interactions and effects in a dynamic way. Accordingly, this paper presents simulation and emulation models to evaluate the impact of a microgrid in isolated communities. These models contemplate sublevels that consider the energetic, automation and computational aspects in the microgrids and a multi-agent system (MAS) that is used to study the environmental and economic impact of the microgrid through the evolution of certain indicators. The socio-technological interdependence in the operation of the isolated microgrid is analyzed through the integration of the microgrid emulation platform with the MAS. Our approach includes a comprehensive study of the performance of these projects in specific communities, in order to contribute to the design and implementation, considering the technological, economic, environmental, and social impacts.