Energy Management System for Inter-Connected Self-Sufficient Microgrids with Blockchain-Based Peer-to-Peer Energy Market

Microgrids powered by renewable energy-based solar photo-voltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems are a viable techno-economical solution in providing electricity to off-the-grid and rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Smart and productive use of available energy capacity of off-grid microgrids is the key element in the context of rural electrification, where customers' ability to pay and purchase power are limited. For cost-efficient utilization and distribution of renewable energy resources, this paper describes a methodology of an intermicrogrid energy management system (inter-MGEMS) applied in the concept of electrification with inter-connected self-sufficient microgrids. An an agent, that is, software, acts on behalf of microgrids' customers, to first enable, and also simplify their engagement to the energy trading. It utilizes a long short-term memory (LSTM) model to predict the consumer load profiles over the day and night periods, and based on that estimates the profiles for the energy available to be shared among the interconnected microgrids. The available energy bids are placed at the inter-MGEMS. The energy trading in the inter-MGEMS is based on non-cooperative game theory approach, where each microgrid independently attempts to maximize its profit. The blockchain is used as a ground technology for the energy trading platform.