Evaluating the Use of a Net-Metering Mechanism in Microgrids to Reduce Power Generation Costs with a Swarm-Intelligent Algorithm

The micro-generation of electricity has been studied day-by-day to provide electrical power in a clean and efficient way. Generating energy with sources such as wind and solar radiation can suffer seasonal interference such as low wind speed and the occurrence of clouds. When facing these events, producer-consumers (prosumers) need to inject electricity in the system via the public grid. This paper incorporates the Net-Metering mechanism into a micro-grid optimization problem to provide a compensation of energy between the microgrid (MG) and the public grid. A swarm-intelligent algorithm (C-DEEPSO) is proposed to solve the problem. Furthermore, the performance of two energy storage systems, Lithium Titanate Spinel (Li4Ti5O12 (LTO)) and Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), is assessed in terms of the final $/kWh costs provided by the MG, using different compensation policies. Using real data from a Spanish region, the results obtained indicate that, when apply the VRFB system in conjunction with a conservative policy of 25% compensation, the kWh price shows to be lower than when using the LTO. The approach proposed in this work is able to generate annual savings figures around thousands of dollars in power generation costs in microgrids.