Developing a mathematical programming model for planning and sizing of grid-connected microgrids.

Economic, technological, and environmental causes are moving energy toward smart distribution networks. The change from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is extremely environmentally friendly in both the building and transport sectors. Microgrids could be efficiently used in remote areas utilizing renewable energy resources for supplying different energy demands namely power, heat and cold. This paper presents a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for optimizing planning and sizing decisions in microgrids connected to main grid. Planning decisions the amount of generation of each distributed generation (DG) technology and the amount of power transmission to other nodes. Also, sizing of different DGs including photovoltaic and combined heat and power facilities are performed by the proposed model. According to the results, the model is able to optimize sizing and planning decisions in grid-connected microgrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]