Providing Distributed Flexibility for Curative Transmission System Operation Using a Scalable Robust Optimization Approach

Abstract

Managing flexibility across transmission and distribution system boundaries unlocks degrees of freedom for efficient system operation. It is attractive to use this freedom for curative transmission system operation, i.e., an operation that reliably reestablishes safe states after contingencies while enabling higher grid utilization in the normal state. However, the computational complexity of coordinating the fast-growing number of renewables becomes challenging. For this reason, we develop a fast and robust optimization approach to calculate flexibility potentials of individual assets and aggregated flexibility potentials across the grid interconnections. The proposed method guarantees that the flexibility-providing grid always remains in a safe state while providing maximum flexibility. The method is successfully tested on a real European sub-transmission system. As part of a future distribution grid control function, the method can be used to provide flexibility to transmission system operation and provide the necessary aggregation methods to handle thousands of distributed assets.