Research experimental platforms to study microgrids issues

Microgrid (MG) concept is becoming increasingly mature. It allows integrating better distributed generation, and especially renewable energy sources, in the grid. However, many issues have still to be resolved before implementing this concept in the real power system extensively. This paper presents first a review of the main issues associated to microgrids dealt with in the scientific literature. The different issues are classified and some examples of carried out studies are given for each issue. Then, a short review of existing experimental microgrids is done. They are classified in small-size and real-size experimental MGs. After that, the EneR-GEA experimental MG or platform of ESTIA Engineering School is presented, describing its different components. Then, some carried out experiments are explained. To finish, the main planned projects at short and medium term related to this platform are given.