Mitigating uncertainty effects in the performance of energy management systems for isolated microgrids integrating small productive processes

Isolated microgrids (MGs) face various operating challenges. Their techno-economic performance is addressed by an energy management system (EMS) that promotes operating safely and reliably. Given the nature of the small productive processes (SPPs), usually based on renewable energies like solar, the consideration of uncertainties on those EMSs is paramount. This work introduces an interval-based robust energy management system (IREMS) that targets the operation of MGs that support solar SPPs, which often have voltage-dependent loads. The IREMS is complemented by an extended multi-zone ZIP model (EMZ-ZIP). Results from a case study considering a 9-bus MG and a solar drying SPP demonstrate better performance than a state-of-the-art deterministic AC EMS, especially when including full dynamic simulation of the MG. Although the proposed IREMS increases the expected cost, by less than 1.6% compared to the benchmark scenario, and up to 5.5% under extreme weather case with high solar generation deviation. Additionally, the proposed IREMS performs better in terms of tracking errors of power generation, particularly in zones with higher uncertainty, reducing the total average power tracking error by up to 11%. Finally, the computational time of IREMS is slightly higher, taking at most around 6% more computational time than the benchmark case.