A Robust Planning Model for Offshore Microgrid Considering Tidal Power and Desalination

TL;DR

This paper develops a robust planning model for offshore microgrids that incorporate tidal power and desalination, optimizing investment and operation costs while handling renewable energy and load uncertainties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel robust planning model for offshore microgrids with tidal power and desalination, addressing renewable fluctuations and load uncertainties.

Findings

The model ensures robustness against worst-case scenarios.

Tidal power complements other renewable sources effectively.

Investment and operation decisions are optimized for cost and reliability.

Abstract

Increasing attention has been paid to resources on islands, thus microgrids on islands need to be invested. Different from onshore microgrids, offshore microgrids (OM) are usually abundant in ocean renewable energy (ORE), such as offshore wind, tidal power generation (TPG), etc. Moreover, some special loads such as seawater desalination unit (SDU) should be included. In this sense, this paper proposes a planning method for OM to minimize the investment cost while the ORE's fluctuation could be accommodated with robustness. First, a deterministic planning model (DPM) is formulated for the OM with TPG and SDU. A robust planning model (RPM) is then developed considering the uncertainties from both TPG and load demand. The Column-and-constraint generation (C&CG) algorithm is then employed to solve the RPM, producing planning results for the OM that is robust against the worst scenario. Results of the case studies show that the investment and operation decisions of the proposed model are robust, and TPG shows good complementarity with the other RESs.