University Campus Microgrid for Supporting Sustainable Energy Systems Operation

Many University campuses have been decreasing the environmental impacts and costs associated with electricity consumption through the implementation of energy efficiency programs, as well as the installation of renewable energy generation. As a next step, such buildings must be equipped with technologies able to provide the flexibility required to increase the matching between renewable generation and demand in order to enable large-scale integration of renewable generation. With such objective, this paper presents a microgrid constituted by photovoltaic generation, lithium-ion battery storage, unidirectional and bi-directional charging of electric vehicles and controllers for the space conditioning systems. Such microgrid was implemented in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of Coimbra, for supporting sustainable energy systems operation, ensuring the optimized integration of renewable generation in large buildings. Simultaneously, the microgrid enables the assessment of new smart grid solutions, acting as a testbed for the research developed on flexibility options for future power systems.