Teaching Reform of Microgrid Course for Energy and Power Engineering Majors in the Context of New Power Systems

Abstract

The development of new power systems imposes new requirements on the cultivation of talents in energy and power engineering. Students are expected not only to master conventional energy conversion and utilization technologies, but also to develop a systemic understanding of issues such as multi-energy complementarity, source–storage coordination, and flexible operation. As a key carrier that integrates distributed energy resources, energy storage devices, and diversified loads, the microgrid serves as a pedagogical bridge connecting the core knowledge of energy and power disciplines with the application scenarios of new power systems. Given the knowledge background and academic characteristics of energy and power engineering students, this paper proposes a microgrid course teaching system structured around the principle of “virtual–real integration with AI assistance.” This system takes physical microgrid experimental platforms as the practical foundation, digital-twin-driven virtual simulation platforms as the space for extended exploration, and artificial intelligence tools as pedagogical aids, thereby forming a closed-loop teaching framework that covers the entire chain from theoretical cognition, through virtual simulation, to physical hands-on practice. The construction pathway of this teaching system is elaborated from four dimensions: course orientation and content optimization, innovation in teaching methodologies, experimental platform development, and reform of assessment systems, with verification drawn from practical explorations at selected universities. The study demonstrates that a virtual–real integrated teaching system tailored to the characteristics of energy and power engineering majors helps lower the cognitive threshold for students in interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition, alleviates the constraints imposed by physical experimental conditions on system-level practical training, and provides effective support for cultivating interdisciplinary talents equipped with a systemic perspective on multi-energy complementarity and robust engineering practice capabilities.