Demand-side energy flexibility estimation for day-ahead models

Abstract

A flexibility estimation model is proposed to evaluate the immediate aggregate flexibility response in a day-ahead scheme. The proposed model schedules a set of appliances and calculates the aggregated flexibility according to the energy and flexibility prices. The temporal granularity of the problem can be adjusted to evaluate the flexibility for the next 15 min or 4 h, using an alternative flexibility scenario approach to evaluate immediate flexibility available. The alternative flexibility scenario is a limited number of time step used to evaluate whether the estimated flexibility is available for a defined time window in each time step. New flexibility constraints were introduced to evaluate the flexibility and the rebound effect for air conditioners, pool pumps, and electric water heater, according to the alternative flexibility scenario. The model was tested under different energy price schemes and flexibility requirement durations to observe how the price signals influenced the flexibility offered. The results show how a model that considers extended flexibility, even if it does not consider the total duration requirement, can offer a more accurate flexibility response than a flexibility estimation without an extended flexibility response.