Should We Have Selfish Microgrids?

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 17; no. 16; p. 3969
• Main Authors: Feleafel, Hanaa, Radulovic, Jovana, Leseure, Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-08-2024
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; balancing mechanism; Carbon sequestration; Climate change; Climatic changes; Costs; Efficiency; Electricity; Energy consumption; Energy industry; Energy resources; Energy storage; energy storage system; Fossil fuels; Infrastructure; Inventory; Inventory management; Logistics; Natural gas; Operations management; renewable energy; Renewable resources; selfish microgrids; Strategic management; supply chain; Supply chain management; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en17163969

Substantial breakthroughs in renewable energy have been made in order to reduce energy-induced climate change. Yet our reliance on these sources is still insufficient. The UK’s objective of attaining net-zero emissions by 2050 is highly dependent on shifting to an electrical system that exclusively relies on zero-carbon generation. This entails integrating renewable energy sources, along with other low-carbon sources such as nuclear power, into the energy mix. However, the primary barrier to incorporating additional renewable energy sources into the grid is their intermittent and volatile nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need to stabilise the generation of renewables and manage this volatility by enhancing the balancing mechanism between microgrids and the national grid. This paper examines previous research on microgrids and smart grids, specifically from a supply chain perspective. It has been observed that the majority of the current literature focuses on documenting selfish microgrids that strive to optimise performance at the microgrid level. However, there is an alternative approach that draws inspiration from the field of supply chain management. Consequently, it is possible to enhance a microgrid’s performance within the broader system that it belongs to by reconsidering the timing and location of storage utilisation.