Multi-microgrid Energy Management Systems: Architecture, Communication, and Scheduling Strategies

The increasing penetration of various distributed and renewable energy resources at the consumption premises, along with the advanced metering, control and communication technologies, promotes a transition on the structure of traditional distribution systems towards cyber-physical multi-microgrids (MMGs). The networked MMG system is an interconnected cluster of distributed generators, energy storage as well as controllable loads in a distribution system. And its operation complexity can be decomposed to decrease the burdens of communication and control with a decentralized framework. Consequently, the multi-microgrid energy management system (MMGEMS) plays a significant role in improving energy efficiency, power quality and reliability of distribution systems, especially in enhancing system resiliency during contingencies. A comprehensive overview on typical functionalities and architectures of MMGEMS is illustrated. Then, the emerging communication technologies for information monitoring and interaction among MMG clusters are surveyed. Furthermore, various energy scheduling and control strategies of MMGs for interactive energy trading, multi-energy management, and resilient operations are thoroughly analyzed and investigated. Lastly, some challenges with great importance in the future research are presented.