Generation maintenance scheduling in virtual power plants

Abstract

In an active network, as a virtual power plant (VPP), periodic maintenance of distributed generators (DGs) is critically vital for the reliable operation of the power system. To prevent unexpected failure of DGs and avoid deterioration of the grid's reliability, coordination of maintenance scheduling is indispensable. In this study, maintenance management of a VPP is proposed for scheduling the planned outage of DGs, in order to preserve their useful lifespan. In addition to conventional DGs and the upstream power grid, renewable generation including wind turbines and photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems, and curtailable loads are considered as components of the VPP. The proposed maintenance scheduling scheme provides different advantages in viewpoints of cost and reliability. Moreover, risk management is also investigated to lower the risk of maintenance scheduling due to the uncertainty in price in an energy market by adopting the conditional value at risk as a measure of risk. The overall cost is minimised considering the power loss in the grid as well as the security constraints such as DGs operational constraints, voltage magnitude, and transmission lines’ power flow limit. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is illustrated using numerical studies with short- and long-term scheduling.