A Real Multitechnology Microgrid in Venice: A Design Review

Electrical grids are evolving rapidly toward smart, self-regulating systems capable of managing distributed generation from intermittent renewable sources. Apart from hydroelectric, the large majority of them are photovoltaic (PV) systems grasping the fluctuating solar radiation and wind turbines (WT) capturing fickle wind energy, but other sources, which are at different stages of development, also generate energy with predictable or unpredictable intermittency. Several investigations have highlighted that, when power production from intermittent sources exceeds 20% of the total generation, the grid may face instabilities that can evolve into blackouts. Energy storage (ES) is a measure to balance source-load mismatches and to avoid such occurrence, but it can also provide a number of additional services which are part of the smart-grid paradigm. The operation of energy storage systems (ESSs) depends on the interface converters that manage the power flow and on the supervisors that control them according to the ESS, grid, and load features. Furthermore, the transmission system operator (TSO) may impose constraints on the ESS operation such as the obligation of contributing to primary regulation. Several numerical analyses have been developed to investigate the behavior of electrical grids provided with energy generation from renewable sources and energy storage, either islanded or connected to the national/transnational grid (macrogrid).