The effect of price responsive loads uncertainty on the risk-constrained optimal operation of a smart micro-grid

The financial and technical decisions of a smart micro-grid energy management system have always been affected by the existence of uncertainty in various parameters, such as electric load, electricity price, and renewable generation. Especially when the behavior of price and load is influenced by each other in a smart micro grid. In this paper, we describe the uncertainty issue in the consumption behavior of price responsive loads and we utilize a model based on robust optimization to consider this uncertainty. The effects of considering the uncertainty of price responsive loads with the proposed model on a typical risk-constrained optimal operation of a smart micro-grid are illustrated through two case studies. The first case involves solving the considered optimal operation problem without considering the proposed uncertainty model while the second one shows the effects of proposed uncertainty model on the optimal solutions. The operation optimization problem is formed as a mixed-integer two-stage stochastic framework. Results show that with this uncertainty model the manager of smart micro-grid can increase its bids in day-ahead market at peak and mid-peak time slots while it can decrease them in off-peak time slots. Also, considering the impacts of this uncertainty model on profitability and system reliability, the smart micro-grid manager needs a trade-off between increasing its profit and increasing the system operation risk.