Renewable Energy, Vol.87, 1003-1015, 2016
Impact of solar and wind forecast uncertainties on demand response of isolated microgrids
A flexible load management may improve significantly the economic dispatch, especially for isolated energy systems with a significant share of renewables. For that purpose, renewable resources and load forecasts ought to be taken in account for optimal demand response programs. The present study uses solar forecast coupled with domestic hot water needs to anticipate the electric demand of solar thermal systems. On the other hand, wind electricity supply will take advantage of thermal storage of solar systems, using a demand response strategy based on genetic algorithms, for load optimization, in order to minimize overall operating costs. The methodology is applied to the isolated microgrid of Corvo Island, in Azores. Results show a 3% increase in the dispatch costs due to the forecasts uncertainty, when in presence of 8% of daily flexible loads. However, this impact is dissipated when solar thermal backup needs decrease, which is explained by the relevance of the wind forecast on the planning of the dispatch of flexible loads. Wind forecast uncertainties can impact in 2% in absorption of wind energy, varying with the forecast horizon considered, while the solar forecast uncertaintieg have more impact when the thermal energy storage is below the daily thermal demand. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Demand response;Forecast uncertainties;Microgrids;Thermal storage;Renewable energy systems;Economic dispatch