Strategic Offering of a Virtual Power Plant in Energy Markets Under Contingency Conditions: A Hybrid Stochastic Robust Optimization Approach

Abstract

In this paper, the energy management problem of a virtual power plant (VPP) in energy markets considering contingency conditions is formulated as a stochastic robust optimization model. A number of price-responsive demands, renewable power plants (RPPs), conventional power plants (CPPs), energy storage systems (ESSs) are integrated into a VPP interconnected through an electric network. Smart grid technology enables the energy management system (EMS) to communicate with day-ahead (DA) and real-time (RT) markets, as well as with VPP components. The uncertainties associated with the production of renewable resources, the prices in the DA and RT markets, as well as the availability of the components of the VPP are considered. The uncertainty in the availability of the components in the VPP and the market prices is modeled through scenarios, whereas the variability in renewable production is presented through prediction intervals. Furthermore, the conditional value at risk (CVaR) is incorporated into the model to analyze the impact of risk-aversion on energy management decisions. The results verify the applicability of the decisions under contingency conditions.