Smart Operation Control of Power and Heat Demands in Active Distribution Grids Leveraging Energy Flexibility

Rakesh Sinha, Sanjay K. Chaudhary, Birgitte Bak-Jensen () and Hessam Golmohamadi
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Rakesh Sinha: Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Sanjay K. Chaudhary: Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Birgitte Bak-Jensen: Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Hessam Golmohamadi: Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-28

Abstract: Demand flexibility plays a crucial role in mitigating the intermittency of renewable power sources. This paper focuses on an active distribution grid that incorporates flexible heat and electric demands, specifically heat pumps (HPs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Additionally, it addresses photovoltaic (PV) power generation facilities and electrical batteries to enhance demand flexibility. To exploit demand flexibility from both heat and electric demand, along with the integration of PVs and batteries, Control and Communication Mechanisms (CCMs) are formulated. These CCMs integrate demand flexibility into the distribution grids to obtain economic benefits for private households and, at the same time, facilitate voltage control. Concerning EVs, the paper discusses voltage-based droop control, scheduled charging, priority charging, and up-/down-power regulation to optimize the charging and discharging operations. For heat demands, the on-off operation of the HPs integrated with phase change material (PCM) storage is optimized to unlock heat-to-power flexibility. The HP controllers aim to ensure as much self-consumption as possible and provide voltage support for the distribution grid while ensuring the thermal comfort of residents. Finally, the developed CCMs are implemented on a small and representative community of an active distribution grid with eight houses using Power Factory software and DIgSILENT simulation language (DSL). This scalable size of the active distribution network facilitates the careful study of symbiotic interaction among the flexible load, generation, and different houses thoroughly. The simulation results confirm that the integration of flexible demands into the grid using the designed CCMs results in the grid benefiting from stabilized voltage control, especially during peak demand hours.

Keywords: distribution grid; battery; controller; electric vehicle; flexibility; heat pump; voltage (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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