Microgrid in the context of "Grid (electricity)"

An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transmission to carry power over long distances, and finally electric power distribution to customers. In that last step, voltage is stepped down again to the required service voltage. Power stations are typically built close to energy sources and far from densely populated areas. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. From small to large there are microgrids, wide area synchronous grids, and super grids. The combined transmission and distribution network is part of electricity delivery, known as the power grid.

Grids are nearly always synchronous, meaning all distribution areas operate with three phase alternating current (AC) frequencies synchronized (so that voltage swings occur at almost the same time). This allows transmission of AC power throughout the area, connecting the electricity generators with consumers. Grids can enable more efficient electricity markets.

Microgrid clustering is connecting and controlling multiple microgrids within a certain range of distance (e.g. neighborhood) to either gain economic benefits when the microgrids are connected to the grid in normal operation (e.g. exchange power with lower prices instead of the grid price) or to mitigate power outage during blackout by maintaining supplying the critical loads. The connection between the microgrids in the cluster should be set up in a specific way according to a predefined algorithm and the existing conditions of the system (i.e. demand and generation).