Optimal energy management of low level multi-carrier distribution grids

One strategy to deal with further increase of renewable energy generation (REG) is to manage energy production, consumption and storage locally. An approach is shown which enables the usage of the gas distribution grid as an energy storage for the electrical distribution grid. Thereby the electric power exchange of the regarded electrical low voltage distribution grid with the higher electrical grid level is reduced, which can help to decrease the need of further expansion of the electrical power grid. The energy conversion between the electric and the gas domain is realized by Power-to-Gas (P2G) and micro combined heat and power (μCHP) plants. Usable heat is a byproduct of both of these energy conversions thus the heat domain is also considered. The converters between the regarded energy domains are optimally controlled by nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). The efficiency of this approach is demonstrated in a case study of a rural settlement with high REG.