Monte Carlo Procedure to Evaluate the E-mobility Impact on the Electric Distribution Grid

The goal of this work is to evaluate the impact of the e-mobility charging processes on the electric grid, in a real-life study case. An effective approach is proposed to study the increase in the energy consumption on the grid with respect to both grid operation and efficiency. The work is developed considering three different recharging technologies, slow (based on domestic users), fast (based on public charging stations), and very fast (based on enhanced public charging stations). Furthermore, three different technologies distributions are evaluated (e.g. different scenarios on charging station deployment are simulated). The results show that fast charging technologies could better fit with e.cars exploitment, but they could cause also a significant stress increase over the grid. The paper is devoted to quantify such effects

San Severino Marche Smart Grid Pilot within the InteGRIDy project

This paper reports the presentation of a Smart Grid architecture designed with respect to the actual Italian scenario and ongoing to be experimentally validated in the distribution grid of San Severino Marche Pilot, Italy. The main characteristics of the smart grid architecture deployed are discussed and two of its innovative functionalities are detailed: reconfiguration of the Medium Voltage (MV) grid and Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) exploitation for the ancillary services provision. Such functionalities are introduced from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view. Data collected from the field have been processed by means of mathematical models in order to achieve a quantitative evaluation of the performances. Results are related to the energy losses improvement the DSO could obtain thanks to a MV grid reconfiguration and to the economic viability of ancillary services provision by means of distributed ESSs. For the first functionality, an Exhaustive Research, a Genetic Algorithm and a Monte Carlo heuristic procedure have been coded and compared. For the latter functionality, an electric model of an ESS has been exploited in order to simulate a contribution to the primary frequency control and an ancillary market model has been developed in order to evaluate a multi service management of the storage; in particular frequency response and self-consumption logics have been evaluated

A techno-economic evaluation of the impact of electric vehicles diffusion on Italian customer billing tariffs

The sales of electric vehicles (EV) are recently experiencing an exponential growth. There is scientific evidence that EVs, in their lifecycle, generate a lower amount of greenhouse gases emissions and local pollution with respect to ICE ones. However, a fast EVs diffusion will increase the load on the power system in a still unclear manner. It is recognized that EV charging is a power intensive operation and that dumb charging strategies will increase security problems for grid management. This will likely happen at the end of business, when a huge quantity of EVs gets connected at the domestic socket at the same time, thus contributing to the ramp up needs from thermal generators to cope with the increasing slope in the “duck curve” at sunset. The presented model estimates the burden that different EV penetration scenarios will have on Italian power system in a short term (2025). This is evaluated in terms of energy flows and load profiles for the charging operations. A behavioural analysis of EV charging operations and a thorough investigation of Italian electricity tariff allows to calculate the economic impact of a base and a strategically regulated scenario. In the regulated scenario, featuring a regulatory toolbox to steer EVs diffusion efficiently, the impact on the power system is mitigated even in case of a larger EV penetration

Data-Driven Evaluation of Secondary- and Tertiary-Reserve Needs with High Renewables Penetration: The Italian Case

The diffusion of nonprogrammable power plants, together with the decommissioning of conventional, rotating generators, is increasing the need for flexible resources to always ensure the safe and secure operation of the European electric-power system. Beyond technological advances, policy aspects also play a fundamental role in the opening of electricity markets to new players; in this regard, System Operations Guideline EU 2017/1485 and Italian Regulatory Authority documents require the Italian transmission-system operator (TSO; Terna) to publish all exploited algorithms and methodologies for the management of market balancing. In this context, the present paper develops and presents a data-driven methodology to estimate secondary and tertiary reserve needs; a numerical real-life case study, focused on the North Italy geographical zone, is presented. Data for 2017, 2018, and 2019 on electricity consumption and production (forecasted and actual) were gathered. Following the European TSOs Organization (ENTSO-E) and the Italian TSO (Terna) prescriptions, methodology for the calculation of reserve needs was developed. Results are presented under graphical form and refer, among others, to spinning and nonspinning reserve duration curves, forecast error contribution to reserve calculation, and samples considered for analysis. While a comparison with available market observations is not very helpful, results suggest that the developed methodology could be useful for the evaluation of reserve needs in different control areas

Techno-economic impact of collective self-consumption on different energy-related investments for a condominium

Energy Communities (ECs) are gaining a key role in supporting the transition towards a low carbon economy in EU, since they combine the promotion of efficient energy practices with an expected positive social impact. Legislators are resorting to the concept of collective self-consumption as a tool to favor the electrification of energy needs and the diffusion of renewable energy sources. This work presents the first results in this field of the ENERGYNIUS project, co-funded by Regione Emilia-Romagna, focusing on the economic feasibility of investment decisions that would increase energy efficiency and renewables’ penetration in the household sector. To this purpose, a mathematical model has been developed, featuring an hourly time step definition of the internal and external energy exchanges and an accurate modelling of the electricity billing. It has been applied to an Italian condominium case study where the energy requirements of the inhabitants – in terms of electricity, heating, cooling and private transportation – have been considered. Thanks to the model, it is possible to compare increasing levels of electrification (e.g., photovoltaic panels, heat pumps, electric vehicles and batteries) and assess the benefits of collective selfconsumption on the condominium cash flows and environment (fossil CO2 emissions)

Economic opportunities for Demand Response by Data Centers within the new Italian Ancillary Service Market

The exploitation of Demand Response as an effective dispatching resource is strictly linked to the new economic opportunities for consumption units deriving from the participation to the Ancillary Services Market. This study provides evidence of the fact that Data Centers, thanks to backup generation and storage systems present at their sites, can be exploited as flexible consumption units for Demand Response purposes. Results highlight how the remuneration mechanisms foreseen for the market activity, and the sizing and operation of local assets, are of utmost importance in guaranteeing the worth of potential investments made by Data Centers' owners to adapt the consumption sites for the provision of ancillary services

An optimization model for the provision of flexibility and dispatching resources by multi-vector smart energy districts

The Clean Energy Package expects a fundamental contribute for the decarbonisation of European energy system from Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), pushing Member States to favour the diffusion of energy production plants for individual and collective self-consumption. At the same time, DERs are required to contribute to system security mainly providing dispatching resources. The model developed includes the possibility to provide real-time balancing flexibility in a generic architecture where different energy vectors can be integrated through energy production, consumption and storage facilities. The optimization problem is built over a weekly time horizon with a stepwise approach where internal and external energy exchanges are defined updating meteorological forecasts, energy demands and markets results while approaching real-time operations. According to the Italian Authority consultation document 322/2019, both energy-only and capacity remunerated services are included in the model. The aim of the model is both to estimate the economic opportunities coming from energy markets participation for smart energy districts in the future energy framework, and to assess the actual capability and reliability of diverse DERs aggregates to provide flexibility to the external electric grid. These evaluations are carried out applying the presented model to a university campus case study where different energy conversion and storage plants are integrated at a Distribution Network level

Techno-economic impact of collective self-consumption on different energy-related investments for a condominium

Energy Communities (ECs) are gaining a key role in supporting the transition towards a low carbon economy in EU, since they combine the promotion of efficient energy practices with an expected positive social impact. Legislators are resorting to the concept of collective self-consumption as a tool to favor the electrification of energy needs and the diffusion of renewable energy sources. This work presents the first results in this field of the ENERGYNIUS project, co-funded by Regione Emilia-Romagna, focusing on the economic feasibility of investment decisions that would increase energy efficiency and renewables’ penetration in the household sector. To this purpose, a mathematical model has been developed, featuring an hourly time step definition of the internal and external energy exchanges and an accurate modelling of the electricity billing. It has been applied to an Italian condominium case study where the energy requirements of the inhabitants – in terms of electricity, heating, cooling and private transportation – have been considered. Thanks to the model, it is possible to compare increasing levels of electrification (e.g., photovoltaic panels, heat pumps, electric vehicles and batteries) and assess the benefits of collective selfconsumption on the condominium cash flows and environment (fossil CO2 emissions)

Energy Communities Design Optimization in the Italian Framework

Energy communities (EC) are expected to have a pivotal role to reach European decarbonization targets. One of the key aspects is the regulatory framework adopted by each Member State to properly manage such new customers’ aggregation. The paper firstly provides an updated overview of the EC regulation, focusing on the current Italian legislation. Next, a novel methodology for the design and management of energy community initiatives is proposed. The procedure firstly solves a design and operation optimization problem to calculate the best size of energy assets (boiler, heat pump, photovoltaic, thermal storage) to be installed. Second, a Shapley value-based approach is exploited to distribute a part of the community’s incomes to members, based on their contribution to the overall welfare. Results demonstrate that the adopted methodology is effective in ensuring a proper cash flow for the community, while pushing its members towards energy efficient behaviors