The potential of residential load flexibility: An approach for assessing operational flexibility

Abstract

This study presents a novel methodology for evaluating the flexibility of residential electricity consumers under diverse operational conditions introducing innovative flexibility indicators. The increasing demand for energy flexibility from the demand side is crucial for ensuring the power grid’s economic stability and resilience. Buildings offer a range of potential flexibility sources that can be effectively leveraged for this purpose. Accordingly, this paper formulates energy flow management in a Smart House using a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework, incorporating the scheduling of shiftable appliances and an Energy Storage System (ESS). By defining different consumption strategies, the feasible region for Energy-Time Profiles (ETPs) is explored through the establishment of the corresponding optimization problems. A series of case studies are presented to evaluate the impact of operational constraints on the feasible region. Finally, by meticulously analyzing the characteristics of ETPs extracted from these case studies, the proposed flexibility indicators are introduced, quantifying the Smart House’s energy flexibility potential. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to scrutinize the influence of key parameters on the new flexibility indicator, encompassing ESS characteristics. The findings substantiate the efficacy of the proposed indicators in providing comprehensive insights into the potential energy flexibility under a range of operational conditions.