A multi-agent system based energy management system (EMS) is proposed in this paper for implementing a PV-small hydro hybrid microgrid (MG) at high altitude. Based on local information, the distributed generation (DG) sources in the MG are controlled via the EMS to achieve efficient and stable system operation. Virtual bidding is used to quickly establish the scheduling of system operation and capacity reserve. In addition, real-time power dispatches are carried out through model predictive control to balance load demand and power generation in the MG. The dynamic model and the energy management strategy of the MG have been simulated on a RTDS-PXI joint real-time simulation platform. The simulation results show that the proposed energy management and control strategy can optimally dispatch the DG sources in the MG to achieve economic and secure operations of the whole system. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.