In the community of Ludvika, a Renewable Energy Emergency Microgrid (REEM) has been defined to provide back-up power during crisis situations. An Energy Storage System (ESS) was designed to support the main loads of the Microgrid in the first working hours. Additionally, the ESS will start-up the hydro power station, which will replace the power supply from the battery after the set-up period. However, the necessity of understanding the operation of the major components, such as the photovoltaic (PV) system and the ESS, of the REEM in normal conditions is imperative.
This study analyses a variety of scenarios to evaluate how the renewable energy of an isolated system can be managed. Alternatives for increasing self-consumption of PV power and reduce feed-in power in the REEM are investigated. All the solutions consider the complete system design and an additional economic analysis for supporting the decision-making. The results show that selling the energy to the grid is the best economic solution, followed by the distribution of energy. However, the difference of 0.5 % in the total net present cost (TNPC) makes the distribution system, including the ESS, an option to be considered. In the upcoming years, changes on the amount of energy produced by the PV system or increasing the battery capacity usage in normal operation can become more feasible.