Power Congestion Management in Integrated Electricity and Gas Distribution Grids

Abstract

The proliferation of gas-fired generation (GfG) units and emerging power-to-gas (PtG) technology can set the stage for an integrated natural gas and power distribution system. PtG and gas-fired units have the potential to mitigate several existing and imminent issues of power distribution systems. This paper investigates how PtG and GfG facilities can be added to the portfolio of conventional resolutions when the motivation is (partly) congestion management in power distribution systems. It demonstrates how PtG and GfG units as merchant investments can change the operation philosophy from the traditional preventive to the novel corrective mode. To that end, a new real-time optimal scheduling algorithm is proposed to enable a PtG–GfG unit to optimally contribute to the congestion management. Merchandise operators profit, in addition to the arbitrage benefit, by relieving the distribution grid's congestion, thereby achieving a more stable return on investments. Slack variables are incorporated into the optimization problem to measure the contribution of the PtG–GfG unit to the congestion management. A new mechanism is proposed through which the merchandise operator is financially compensated by the power system operator, due to its contribution to the congestion management. Numerical studies using real-world data on a test system validate the efficacy and feasibility of the algorithm.