Abstract
Distributed energy resource (DER) systems have elicited increasing attention and applications because of their excellent economic and environmental performance. However, uncertainties exist in such systems, preventing their potential advantages to be realized. In this study, an interval optimization-based model for the optimal design of DER systems is proposed, considering uncertainties in energy prices, renewable energy intensity, and load demands. Uncertainties are described as interval numbers, and the uncertain optimization model is transformed into a deterministic optimization problem using the order relationship and probability degree of interval numbers. The proposed model is applied to a typical hospital in Lianyungang, China, and its effectiveness is verified. One deterministic case and three uncertain cases are designed. The effects of uncertainties on system configuration and economic performance are also analyzed, and the optimal operation strategy under the three uncertainties is determined. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to analyze the effects of probability degree and weighting coefficient on total annual cost. Results show that uncertainties exert a cumulative effect on system optimization outcomes, and the proposed interval optimization model can obtain robust solutions to uncertainties.
Highlights
Distributed energy resource (DER) systems have elicited increasing attention and applications to save energy resources, reduce carbon emissions, and lessen energy costs
The gas engine (GE) and wind turbine (WT) are selected as the power generation facility, and exhaust gas from the GE is reused in the absorption chiller (AC) and waste-heat boiler (WB) to generate cold and hot water, respectively
An interval optimization-based model for the optimal design of DER systems is proposed in this study, considering uncertainties in energy prices, renewable energy intensity, and load demands, which are presented as interval numbers
Summary
Distributed energy resource (DER) systems have elicited increasing attention and applications to save energy resources, reduce carbon emissions, and lessen energy costs. The design of DER system configuration and operation strategy is difficult because of the complex structure, numerous pieces of equipment, long operating period, and various energy forms of such systems. In this context, optimization models have been proposed for the optimal design of DER systems. The optimization of DER systems has been conducted from different aspects, such as exergy [2,3], multi-objective [4,5], design [2,6,7], and operation [8,9] optimization In these studies, mathematical models were proposed in a deterministic environment without considering uncertainties. These systems are impacted by many uncertainties, such as those in Energies 2020, 13, 3465; doi:10.3390/en13133465 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
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