Use of energy storage in Isolated Micro Grids

Many regions in Russia are not connected with the centralized electric system because of their remote geographic location. Therefore, Isolated Micro Grids (IMG) solutions were adopted in the past to generate and supply electric power to these areas. These IMG generally have used conventional power generators to supply both the electric as well as the thermal power. Recently, generators based on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) plants have been introduced in the Russian system, including the Russian IMG. However, the contribution that such power plants can provide is limited, if Energy Storage Systems (ESS) are not installed [1], [2]. This study aims to analyze the optimal energy storage capacity needed in a Russian IMG in which a large part of the energy demanded is generated by power plants based on RES [3]. Technical and economic aspects have been considered to find the optimal solution for a test case. A sensitivity analysis depicts how the optimal energy storage capacity depends on the typology of the customers.