Abstract
The increasing renewable energy sources RES penetration in today’s energy islands and rural energy communities with weak grid connections is expected to incur severe distribution network stability problems (i.e., congestion, voltage issues). Tackling these problems is even more challenging since RES spillage minimization and energy cost minimization for the local energy community are set as major pre-requisites. In this paper, we consider a Microgrid Operator (MGO) that: (i) gradually decides the optimal mix of its RES and flexibility assets’ (FlexAsset) sizing, siting and operation, (ii) respects the physical distribution network constraints in high RES penetration contexts, and (iii) is able to bid strategically in the existing day-ahead energy market. We model this problem as a Stackelberg game, expressed as a Mathematical Problem with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC), which is finally transformed into a tractable Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). The performance evaluation results show that the MGO can lower its costs when bidding strategically, while the coordinated planning and scheduling of its FlexAssets result in higher RES utilization, as well as distribution network aware and cost-effective RES and FlexAsset operation.
Highlights
IntroductionEnergy islands and remote energy communities with weak grid connections can be the “front-runner” use case towards the energy transition [1], as they can benefit from: (i) low cost of renewable energy sources RES compared to the high energy production costs of conventional generators; (ii) local deployment of local RES and storage systems, which can both enhance cost effectiveness and decarbonize the local energy system in the long term; (iii) the exploitation of the close social bonds of the local community members that increase the end users’ engagement [2,3].Recent regulations that incentivize local investments in integrated energy systems, such as [4], highlight that the need for optimal RES investments triggers investments in flexibility assets, or FlexAssets (e.g., electric vehicles, battery storage systems, demand side management, etc.).Their efficient siting, sizing and scheduling become an apparent problem to solve towards the effective utilization of local RES usage.Energies 2020, 13, 4043; doi:10.3390/en13164043 www.mdpi.com/journal/energiesthe underlying network of a typical energy island is vulnerable to severe instability issues, because: (i) its interconnection point with higher voltage networks (i.e., main grid at the transmission network level) is weak, and (ii) its existing lines at the distribution network level are usually inadequate to accommodate the continuously increasing RES, especially at the edges of the low-voltage distribution network [5]
Load and line data for the Distribution Network (DN) are based on data in [24]
We proposed a network- and market-aware bidding strategy to co-optimize RES and flexibility
Summary
Energy islands and remote energy communities with weak grid connections can be the “front-runner” use case towards the energy transition [1], as they can benefit from: (i) low cost of renewable energy sources RES compared to the high energy production costs of conventional generators; (ii) local deployment of local RES and storage systems, which can both enhance cost effectiveness and decarbonize the local energy system in the long term; (iii) the exploitation of the close social bonds of the local community members that increase the end users’ engagement [2,3].Recent regulations that incentivize local investments in integrated energy systems, such as [4], highlight that the need for optimal RES investments triggers investments in flexibility assets, or FlexAssets (e.g., electric vehicles, battery storage systems, demand side management, etc.).Their efficient siting, sizing and scheduling become an apparent problem to solve towards the effective utilization of local RES usage.Energies 2020, 13, 4043; doi:10.3390/en13164043 www.mdpi.com/journal/energiesthe underlying network of a typical energy island is vulnerable to severe instability issues, because: (i) its interconnection point with higher voltage networks (i.e., main grid at the transmission network level) is weak, and (ii) its existing lines at the distribution network level are usually inadequate to accommodate the continuously increasing RES, especially at the edges of the low-voltage distribution network [5]. Recent regulations that incentivize local investments in integrated energy systems, such as [4], highlight that the need for optimal RES investments triggers investments in flexibility assets, or FlexAssets (e.g., electric vehicles, battery storage systems, demand side management, etc.). Their efficient siting, sizing and scheduling become an apparent problem to solve towards the effective utilization of local RES usage. Network and market-aware bidding is required to minimize the energy cost and maximize the end users’ welfare
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