IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2014 - 4

about this issue

predicated on unidirectional energy
impact of the whole electricity supply
flows from large centralized power
system, and deliver enhanced levels of
plants, is increasingly becoming obsoreliability and security of supply at the
lete. the economies of scale that once
local level.
favored such monopoly models no
the third article by Burr et al. dislonger hold, as markets now favor discusses the emerging models for
tributed and decentralized devices
microgrid finance. the authors point
whose energy services are more cusout that an understanding of both
tomized and based on local availabilithe costs and sources of economic
ty and timing.
value that microgrids can provide is
the second article by ravindra et al.
critical to their financing success.
presents microgrids
historical projects
as a value-based paroffered emergency
Microgrids are
adigm in developing
services and little
designed to be smart
countries. the aumore. they were not
thors point out that
integrated or interto incorporate
microgrids are not
connected with the
innovative products
just a stopgap solugrid and generally
and services together
tion for matching dehave served only a
with intelligent
mand and supply in
single facility. a more
emerging economies
modern, integrated
monitoring, control,
and enabling access
microgrid will procommunication,
to modern energy in
vide secure sources
and self-healing
places like india. in
of power, with high
technologies.
the case of off-grid
levels of quality and
and remote areas, it is
reliability, through a
not to be assumed
combination of onthat microgrids will give way to centralsite generation, storage, distribution,
ized grids if technologies make it possiand energy management technoloble. Microgrids have to be seen as
gies. Microgrids that make the most
value-based entities that coexist with
of each of these values and exploit
the centralized grid. they are potent
the full range of revenue streams and
entities that can operate essential serincentive opportunities will be in a
vices even in the case of emergencies
better position to attract third-party
such as natural calamities, as demonfinancing, especially if they consolistrated by the sendai microgrid, when
date them in easily understood
the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck
financial analyses. Moreover, the best
off the northeastern coast of Japan and
financing opportunities might be
triggered one of the deadliest tsunamis,
obtained by combining multiple
and san Diego gas & electric's Borrego
microgrid projects together into a
springs microgrid during the intense
portfolio. while an individual
thunderstorms on 6 september 2013.
microgrid project might be too small
Microgrids are designed to be smart to
to attract interest from private equiincorporate innovative products and
ty and institutional investors, a
services together with intelligent monimicrogrid portfolio could provide
toring, control, communication, and
opportunities to raise equity or debt
self-healing technologies. Microgrids
financing in public markets.
can better facilitate the connection and
the fourth article by roach is on a
operation of generators of all sizes and
new distribution paradigm to meet
technologies, allow consumers to play
climate goals, enhance system resila part in optimal operation of the sysience, and stimulate local economic
tem, provide consumers with more indevelopment. roach points out that
formation and choice of supply,
community power companies tradisignificantly reduce the environmental
tionally originated from local

I E E E E l e c t r i f i c ati o n M agaz ine / MARCH 2014

hydropower resources or were located
in rural areas that for-profit utility
companies did not want to serve
because of the high cost of infrastructure relative to demand. the article
looks at potentials for a new paradigm of community power companies that remain locally controlled
and focused on serving community
energy needs. such operations avail
themselves of the latest distributed
energy resources, enabling distribution technologies and market mechanisms to develop a local energy
system that is more sustainable and
secure and that generates more tangible community economic benefits.
the fifth article by Dragicˇevic et al.
discusses low-voltage microgrids.
the authors discuss strategies to deal
with a fundamental turnaround from
ac to dc architecture at the grassroots
levels of low-voltage distribution systems. in that sense, a particular dc
subsystem connected to a supreme
ac distribution through a dedicated
dc-ac converter automatically
implies the lack of power quality
issues initiated from the utility side.
Furthermore, dc systems provide a
natural interface for modern electronic loads as well as most renewable energy sources and energy
storage systems like batteries. the
possibility of islanded operation,
which makes the system fully resistant to major blackouts in the main
grid, is simpler in dc microgrids
when synchronization problems and
reactive power flows do not exist.
Moreover, with the proper selection
of nominal operating voltage, the dc
system efficiency will generally be
higher than its ac counterpart. the
authors envisage that dc subsystems
will constitute the core of future distribution networks and that they will
be gradually adopted in applications
such as dc homes, hybrid electric
vehicle charging stations, and commercial and industrial facilities.
the sixth article by Che et al. discusses adaptive protection systems
for microgrids. the authors point out

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2014