Abstract
Flexible load management concepts are increasingly relevant due to a rising share of flexibilities at distribution grid level, e.g. power-to-heat systems, electric vehicles or home battery storages. In a market oriented load management, uniform price signals can lead to higher load simultaneity factors and grid congestions. Therefore, load management concepts have to consider the prevention of grid congestions, e.g. by load activation quotas. The quota represents the maximum share of flexible loads per grid segment for each point in time that can be activated without causing grid congestions. Grid expansion measures increase the possible activation quota and lead to higher flexibility in operation. For an aggregator of flexible loads, grid expansion increases the potential for procurement cost reduction. On the other side, it causes capital costs for the distribution system operator. This study introduces a methodology for the techno-economic evaluation of LAQ as a concept for flexible load management in future distribution grids, which is applied to an exemplary medium-voltage grid in Southern Germany. The analysis considers both the investment costs for grid expansion by the grid operator and operational savings in procurement due to an increased flexibility for an aggregator. The cost-efficient trade-off from a micro-economic perspective is determined.
Highlights
In course of the energy transition, new kinds of flexibilities are introduced into the power system
Load activation quotas (LAQ) as a concept for load management consider the prevention of grid congestions
The evaluation results include grid expansion costs and procurement costs, which are transformed into annuities and combined to overall costs to determine the cost-efficient trade-off
Summary
In course of the energy transition, new kinds of flexibilities are introduced into the power system. A market-oriented load management could increase flexibility and reduce energy costs for flexible loads. Load activation quotas (LAQ) as a concept for load management consider the prevention of grid congestions. The quota limits the share of flexible loads in a grid segment for each point in time that can be activated without causing grid congestions [3]. Investments in grid expansion increase the flexibility as well as the opportunities to reduce energy procurement costs for market-oriented aggregators, but cause capital costs for the grid operator. The savings in energy costs due to flexibility in load management on the one hand are confronted with grid expansion costs to increase flexibility on the other hand. The DSO communicates the results (Fig. 3) to the respective utilities or aggregators, which can optimise the energy procurement of their flexible loads within the restrictions of the LAQ.
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