Development of a Smart Grid Simulation Environment

With the increased integration of renewable energy sources the interaction between energy producers and consumers has become a bi-directional exchange. Therefore, the electrical grid must be adapted into a smart grid which effectively regulates this two-way interaction. With the aid of simulation, stakeholders can obtain information on how to properly develop and control the smart grid. In this paper, we present the development of an integrated smart grid simulation model, using the Anylogic simulation environment. Among the elements which are included in the simulation model are houses connected to a renewable energy source, and batteries as storage devices. With the use of the these elements a neighbourhood model can be constructed and simulated under multiple scenarios and configurations. The developed simulation environment provides users better insight into the effects of running different configurations in their houses as well as allow developers to study the inter-exchange of energy between elements in a smart city on multiple levels.