Virtual Power Plant Construction And Coordination Strategies And Methods For Optimal Market Operation

The rapid growth of distributed energy resources (DERs), including rooftop photovoltaics (PVs) and batteries, has significantly transformed the landscape of renewable energy supply. With the emergence of virtual power plants (VPPs), energy service providers (ESPs) can now aggregate diverse DERs and empower them to participate in energy markets as prosumers. Nonetheless, previous studies often overly idealize prosumers’ willingness to participate in VPPs, failing to account for many concerns of DER owners, such as low returns and limited plan options. Consequently, the existing studies lack the necessary incentives to encourage prosumers to participate in VPPs. Additionally, concerns persist among DER participants regarding the profits of ESPs, as these service providers determine the existing profit allocation rules within VPPs. Furthermore, the conventional fixed recruitment approach for VPPs lacks the flexibility required to accommodate temporary expansions in participant numbers, resulting in limited VPP profitability and hampering its potential for maximizing returns. Hence, it is imperative to reevaluate the current approach to VPP construction. This thesis delves into utilizing frameworks, models, and solution methods within the VPP construction process. A series of benchmark tests are employed to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental studies are conducted to compare the proposed method with existing approaches from the literature. The findings unequivocally demonstrate that our VPP construction and coordination methods introduces enhanced flexibility, thereby enabling ESPs and DER participants to attain superior profitability. Our proposed VPP construction and coordination frameworks and methods can effectively harmonize various prosumer types with diverse preferences, thereby facilitating a more flexible and efficient operation of the VPP. They prove to be practical and conducive to the market-oriented operation of VPPs