Optimal Planning and Performance Assessment of Multi-Microgrid Systems in Future Smart Cities

While interconnecting adjacent microgrids (MGs) to build a multi-microgrid system (MMGS) is attracting more attention among researchers, optimal planning and operation of MMGS call for a comprehensive quantitative assessment on different aspects. This section proposes a set of new metrics to describe characteristics of MMGS, with special focus on source-charge capacity, energy interaction, reliability, economics, energy utilization efficiency, energy saving, emission reduction, and renewable energy utilization. In addition, performance assessment algorithms for MMGSs under both grid-connected and islanded modes are proposed based on their energy dispatch strategies. Case studies accurately reveal the energy interaction among MGs and the MMGS and show that the MMGS outperforms individual MGs in terms of reliability and economics. The proposed metrics and assessment algorithms will give beneficial guidance for of future MMGS.