Optimal energy dispatch in a smart micro-grid system using economic model predictive control

The problem of energy dispatch in heterogeneous complex systems such as smart grids cannot be efficiently addressed using classical control or ad hoc methods. This article discusses the application of economic model predictive control to the management of a smart micro-grid system connected to an electrical power grid. The considered system is composed of several subsystems, namely, some photovoltaic panels, a wind generator, a hydroelectric generator, a diesel generator, and some storage devices (batteries). The batteries are charged with the energy from the photovoltaic panels, wind and hydroelectric generators, and they are discharged whenever the generators produce less energy than needed. The subsystems are interconnected via a DC Bus, from which load demands are satisfied. Modeling smart grids components is based on the generalized flow-based networked systems paradigm, and assuming energy generators to be stable, load demands and energy prices are known. This study shows that economic model predictive control is economically superior to a two-layer hierarchical model predictive control.