Flexibility Management with Virtual Batteries of Thermostatically Controlled Loads: Real-Time Control System and Potential in Spain

Alejandro Martín-Crespo, Sergio Saludes-Rodil and Enrique Baeyens
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Alejandro Martín-Crespo: Centro Tecnológico CARTIF, Parque Tecnológico de Boecillo 305, 47151 Boecillo, Spain
Sergio Saludes-Rodil: Centro Tecnológico CARTIF, Parque Tecnológico de Boecillo 305, 47151 Boecillo, Spain
Enrique Baeyens: Instituto de las Tecnologías Avanzadas de la Producción, Universidad de Valladolid, Paseo del Cauce 59, 47011 Valladolid, Spain

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Load flexibility management is a promising approach to face the problem of balancing generation and demand in electrical grids. This problem is becoming increasingly difficult due to the variability of renewable energies. Thermostatically-controlled loads can be aggregated and managed by a virtual battery, and they provide a cost-effective and efficient alternative to physical storage systems to mitigate the inherent variability of renewable energy sources. However virtual batteries require that an accurate control system is capable of tracking frequency regulation signals with minimal error. A real-time control system allowing virtual batteries to accurately track frequency or power signals is developed. The performance of this controller is validated for a virtual battery composed of 1000 thermostatically-controlled loads. Using virtual batteries equipped with the developed controller, a study focused on residential thermostatically-controlled loads in Spain is performed. The results of the study quantify the potential of this technology in a country with different climate areas and provides insight about the feasibility of virtual batteries as enablers of electrical systems with high levels of penetration of renewable energy sources.

Keywords: virtual battery; thermostatically-controlled loads; demand side management; frequency regulation; spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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