5 research outputs found
Unlocking the Potential of Flexible Energy Resources to Help Balance the Power Grid
Flexible energy resources can help balance the power grid by providing
different types of ancillary services. However, the balancing potential of most
types of resources is restricted by physical constraints such as the size of
their energy buffer, limits on power-ramp rates, or control delays. Using the
example of Secondary Frequency Regulation, this paper shows how the flexibility
of various resources can be exploited more efficiently by considering multiple
resources with complementary physical properties and controlling them in a
coordinated way. To this end, optimal adjustable control policies are computed
based on robust optimization. Our problem formulation takes into account power
ramp-rate constraints explicitly, and accurately models the different
timescales and lead times of the energy and reserve markets. Simulations
demonstrate that aggregations of select resources can offer significantly more
regulation capacity than the resources could provide individually.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1804.0389
Data-Driven Key Performance Indicators and Datasets for Building Energy Flexibility: A Review and Perspectives
Energy flexibility, through short-term demand-side management (DSM) and
energy storage technologies, is now seen as a major key to balancing the
fluctuating supply in different energy grids with the energy demand of
buildings. This is especially important when considering the intermittent
nature of ever-growing renewable energy production, as well as the increasing
dynamics of electricity demand in buildings. This paper provides a holistic
review of (1) data-driven energy flexibility key performance indicators (KPIs)
for buildings in the operational phase and (2) open datasets that can be used
for testing energy flexibility KPIs. The review identifies a total of 81
data-driven KPIs from 91 recent publications. These KPIs were categorized and
analyzed according to their type, complexity, scope, key stakeholders, data
requirement, baseline requirement, resolution, and popularity. Moreover, 330
building datasets were collected and evaluated. Of those, 16 were deemed
adequate to feature building performing demand response or building-to-grid
(B2G) services. The DSM strategy, building scope, grid type, control strategy,
needed data features, and usability of these selected 16 datasets were
analyzed. This review reveals future opportunities to address limitations in
the existing literature: (1) developing new data-driven methodologies to
specifically evaluate different energy flexibility strategies and B2G services
of existing buildings; (2) developing baseline-free KPIs that could be
calculated from easily accessible building sensors and meter data; (3) devoting
non-engineering efforts to promote building energy flexibility, such as
designing utility programs, standardizing energy flexibility quantification and
verification processes; and (4) curating datasets with proper description for
energy flexibility assessments.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, 4 table
Unlocking the Potential of Flexible Energy Resources to Help Balance the Power Grid
Flexible energy resources can help balance the power grid by providing ancillary services. However, the balancing potential of most types of resources is restricted by physical constraints such as the size of their energy buffer, power ramp-rate limits, or control delays. Using the example of Secondary Frequency Regulation, this paper shows how the flexibility of energy resources can be exploited more efficiently by considering multiple resources with complementary physical properties and controlling them in a coordinated way. To this end, optimal adjustable control policies are computed based on robust optimization. Our problem formulation takes into account power ramp-rate limits explicitly, and accurately models the different timescales and lead times of the energy and reserve markets. Simulations demonstrate that aggregating select resources can lead to a synergy effect that frees up additional regulation capacity in the range of 18–1190% compared with the amount of reserves the systems could provide individually. This synergy effect can unlock the regulation potential of energy resources with control delays or restrictive energy or ramp-rate constraints.ISSN:1949-3053ISSN:1949-306