Open-Source, Open-Architecture SoftwarePlatform for Plug-InElectric Vehicle SmartCharging in California

This interdisciplinary eXtensible Building Operating System–Vehicles project focuses on controlling plug-in electric vehicle charging at residential and small commercial settings using a novel and flexible open-source, open-architecture charge communication and control platform. The platform provides smart charging functionalities and benefits to the utility, homes, and businesses.This project investigates four important areas of vehicle-grid integration research, integrating technical as well as social and behavioral dimensions: smart charging user needs assessment, advanced load control platform development and testing, smart charging impacts, benefits to the power grid, and smart charging ratepayer benefits

Review of trends and targets of complex systems for power system optimization

Optimization systems (OSs) allow operators of electrical power systems (PS) to optimally operate PSs and to also create optimal PS development plans. The inclusion of OSs in the PS is a big trend nowadays, and the demand for PS optimization tools and PS-OSs experts is growing. The aim of this review is to define the current dynamics and trends in PS optimization research and to present several papers that clearly and comprehensively describe PS OSs with characteristics corresponding to the identified current main trends in this research area. The current dynamics and trends of the research area were defined on the basis of the results of an analysis of the database of 255 PS-OS-presenting papers published from December 2015 to July 2019. Eleven main characteristics of the current PS OSs were identified. The results of the statistical analyses give four characteristics of PS OSs which are currently the most frequently presented in research papers: OSs for minimizing the price of electricity/OSs reducing PS operation costs, OSs for optimizing the operation of renewable energy sources, OSs for regulating the power consumption during the optimization process, and OSs for regulating the energy storage systems operation during the optimization process. Finally, individual identified characteristics of the current PS OSs are briefly described. In the analysis, all PS OSs presented in the observed time period were analyzed regardless of the part of the PS for which the operation was optimized by the PS OS, the voltage level of the optimized PS part, or the optimization goal of the PS OS.Web of Science135art. no. 107

A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030

As part of its Paris Agreement commitment, China pledged to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions around 2030, striving to peak earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% by 2030. Yet by the end of 2017, China emitted 28% of the world's energy-related CO2 emissions, 76% of which were from coal use. How China can reinvent its energy economy cost-effectively while still achieving its commitments was the focus of a three-year joint research project completed in September 2016. Overall, this analysis found that if China follows a pathway in which it aggressively adopts all cost-effective energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction technologies while also aggressively moving away from fossil fuels to renewable and other non-fossil resources, it is possible to not only meet its Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments, but also to reduce its 2050 CO2 emissions to a level that is 42% below the country's 2010 CO2 emissions. While numerous barriers exist that will need to be addressed through effective policies and programs in order to realize these potential energy use and emissions reductions, there are also significant local environmental (e.g., air quality), national and global environmental (e.g., mitigation of climate change), human health, and other unquantified benefits that will be realized if this pathway is pursued in China

Heuristic optimization of clusters of heat pumps: A simulation and case study of residential frequency reserve

The technological challenges of adapting energy systems to the addition of more renewables are intricately interrelated with the ways in which markets incentivize their development and deployment. Households with own onsite distributed generation augmented by electrical and thermal storage capacities (prosumers), can adjust energy use based on the current needs of the electricity grid. Heat pumps, as an established technology for enhancing energy efficiency, are increasingly seen as having potential for shifting electricity use and contributing to Demand Response (DR). Using a model developed and validated with monitoring data of a household in a plus-energy neighborhood in southern Germany, the technical and financial viability of utilizing household heat pumps to provide power in the market for Frequency Restoration Reserve (FRR) are studied. The research aims to evaluate the flexible electrical load offered by a cluster of buildings whose heat pumps are activated depending on selected rule-based participation strategies. Given the prevailing prices for FRR in Germany, the modelled cluster was unable to reduce overall electricity costs and thus was unable to show that DR participation as a cluster with the heat pumps is financially viable. Five strategies that differed in the respective contractual requirements that would need to be agreed upon between the cluster manager and the aggregator were studied. The relatively high degree of flexibility necessary for the heat pumps to participate in FRR activations could be provided to varying extents in all strategies, but the minimum running time of the heat pumps turned out to be the primary limiting physical (and financial) factor. The frequency, price and duration of the activation calls from the FRR are also vital to compensate the increase of the heat pumps’ energy use. With respect to thermal comfort and self-sufficiency constraints, the buildings were only able to accept up to 34% of the activation calls while remaining within set comfort parameters. This, however, also depends on the characteristics of the buildings. Finally, a sensitivity analysis showed that if the FRR market changed and the energy prices were more advantageous, the proposed approaches could become financially viable. This work suggests the need for further study of the role of heat pumps in flexibility markets and research questions concerning the aggregation of local clusters of such flexible technologies.Comisión Europea 69596

Optimizing plug-in electric vehicle charging in interaction with a small office building

This paper considers the integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in micro-grids. Extending a theoretical framework for mobile storage connection, the economic analysis here turns to the interactions of commuters and their driving behavior with office buildings. An illustrative example for a real office building is reported. The chosen system includes solar thermal, photovoltaic, combined heat and power generation as well as an array of plug-in electric vehicles with a combined aggregated capaci-ty of 864 kWh. With the benefit-sharing mechanism proposed here and idea-lized circumstances, estimated cost savings of 5% are possible. Different pricing schemes were applied which include flat rates, demand charges, as well as hourly variable final customer tariffs and their effects on the operation of intermittent storage were revealed and examined in detail. Because the plug-in electric vehicle connection coincides with peak heat and electricity loads as well as solar radiation, it is possible to shift energy demand as desired in order to realize cost savings. --Battery storage,building management systems,dispersed storage and generation,electric vehicles,load management,microgrid,optimization methods,power system economics,road vehicle electric propulsion

Emission-aware Energy Storage Scheduling for a Greener Grid

Reducing our reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources is vital for reducing the carbon footprint of the electric grid. Although the grid is seeing increasing deployments of clean, renewable sources of energy, a significant portion of the grid demand is still met using traditional carbon-intensive energy sources. In this paper, we study the problem of using energy storage deployed in the grid to reduce the grid's carbon emissions. While energy storage has previously been used for grid optimizations such as peak shaving and smoothing intermittent sources, our insight is to use distributed storage to enable utilities to reduce their reliance on their less efficient and most carbon-intensive power plants and thereby reduce their overall emission footprint. We formulate the problem of emission-aware scheduling of distributed energy storage as an optimization problem, and use a robust optimization approach that is well-suited for handling the uncertainty in load predictions, especially in the presence of intermittent renewables such as solar and wind. We evaluate our approach using a state of the art neural network load forecasting technique and real load traces from a distribution grid with 1,341 homes. Our results show a reduction of >0.5 million kg in annual carbon emissions -- equivalent to a drop of 23.3% in our electric grid emissions.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure, This paper will appear in the Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Future Energy Systems (e-Energy 20) June 2020, Australi

Ancillary Services in Hybrid AC/DC Low Voltage Distribution Networks

In the last decade, distribution systems are experiencing a drastic transformation with the advent of new technologies. In fact, distribution networks are no longer passive systems, considering the current integration rates of new agents such as distributed generation, electrical vehicles and energy storage, which are greatly influencing the way these systems are operated. In addition, the intrinsic DC nature of these components, interfaced to the AC system through power electronics converters, is unlocking the possibility for new distribution topologies based on AC/DC networks. This paper analyzes the evolution of AC distribution systems, the advantages of AC/DC hybrid arrangements and the active role that the new distributed agents may play in the upcoming decarbonized paradigm by providing different ancillary services.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ENE2017-84813-RUnión Europea (Programa Horizonte 2020) 76409