Coordination of community electricity markets and distribution network operation

Community electricity markets are dedicated markets in which small electricity prosumers can directly trade electricity among themselves. The interest in such markets is growing in recent years as indicated by the increasing number of research studies, pilot projects and commercial implementations of community markets. The large-scale deployment of community markets may contribute to problems in the distribution grid, in combination with the increased electrification of the energy demand. Therefore, a coordinated approach with the DSO’s operational activities is preferred in order to avoid network problems. This paper proposes a method for such coordination that is straightforward, effective and considers the electricity deregulation. The results of the case study demonstrate how flexibility from prosumers can be utilized by the DSO to solve network problems. The coordinated approach has a small negative effect on the community market which can be overcome with adequate remuneration policy

Coordination of community electricity markets and distribution network operation

Community electricity markets are dedicated markets in which small electricity prosumers can directly trade electricity among themselves. The interest in such markets is growing in recent years as indicated by the increasing number of research studies, pilot projects and commercial implementations of community markets. The large-scale deployment of community markets may contribute to problems in the distribution grid, in combination with the increased electrification of the energy demand. Therefore, a coordinated approach with the DSO’s operational activities is preferred in order to avoid network problems. This paper proposes a method for such coordination that is straightforward, effective and considers the electricity deregulation. The results of the case study demonstrate how flexibility from prosumers can be utilized by the DSO to solve network problems. The coordinated approach has a small negative effect on the community market which can be overcome with adequate remuneration policy

Introducing user preferences for peer-to-peer electricity trading through stochastic multi-objective optimization

Peer-to-peer electricity markets are dedicated markets that enable the direct participation of small electricity end-users in energy trading activities. They are seen as a promising alternative that can empower end-users and accelerate the energy transition, by researchers, business developers, and legislators. Moreover, they can include environmental, social, or altruistic preferences that are relevant to end-users, in addition to the economic perspective. Such preferences are sometimes included in the modeling of P2P markets in the existing literature, but the assumptions behind them are rarely validated in practice. To investigate the desired attributes and preferences of end-users to participate in P2P markets, an online survey including a discrete choice experiment was conducted in The Netherlands The results of the survey are used to design a P2P electricity market with product differentiation. The participants in the market are residential end-users that are equipped with a home energy management system that can control some of the household appliances and automate the decision-making process for participation in the market. To facilitate this, a multi-objective stochastic optimization model is presented that incorporates results from the discrete choice experiment and real smart-meter measurements. The case study results demonstrate user preferences’ influence on market outcomes.</p

Network-Aware Flexibility Requests for Distribution-Level Flexibility Markets

Local flexibility markets will become a central tool to procure flexibility for distribution system operators (DSOs), who need to ensure a safe grid operation against increased costs and public opposition towards new network investments. Despite extended recent literature on local flexibility markets, little attention has been paid on how to determine the amount of flexibility required at each location, considering the constraints that the network introduces (e.g. line and voltage limits). Addressing an open question for several DSOs, this paper introduces a method to design network-aware flexibility requests from a DSO perspective. In that, we also consider uncertainty, which could be the result of fluctuating renewable production or demand. We compare our approach against a stochastic market clearing mechanism, which serves as a benchmark; and we derive analytical conditions for the performance of our method to determine flexibility requests. We demonstrate our methods on a real German distribution grid.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Network-Aware Flexibility Requests for Distribution-Level Flexibility Markets

This article proposes a method to design network-aware flexibility requests for local flexibility markets. These markets are becoming increasingly important for distribution system operators (DSOs) to ensure grid safety while minimizing costs and public opposition to new network investments. Despite extended recent literature on local flexibility markets, little attention has been paid to quantifying the flexibility required at each location, considering physical network constraints (e.g. line and voltage limits). The method introduced uses a chance-constrained optimization model and a LinDistFlow approximation to consider both physical network constraints and uncertainty caused by renewable production or demand fluctuations. Unlike other methods, it avoids sharing sensitive grid data with the market operator. We compare our approach against a stochastic market-clearing mechanism which serves as a benchmark, and we derive analytical conditions for the performance of our method to determine flexibility requests. We show on two case studies that our method outperforms the stochastic market-clearing benchmark in terms of computation time while achieving comparable social welfare and costs for the DSOs. One of the case studies is conducted on an actual German distribution grid, showing that the proposed method can scale well to real-sized networks.</p

Review of Recent Developments in Technical Control Approaches for Voltage and Congestion Management in Distribution Networks

The increasing installation of distributed energy resources in residential households is causing frequent voltage and congestion issues in low- and medium-voltage electrical networks. To defer or avoid the costly and complicated grid expansion, technical, pricing-based, and market-based approaches have been proposed in the literature. These approaches can help distribution system operators (DSOs) exploit flexible resources to manage their grids. This study focuses on technical control approaches, which are easier to implement, and provides an up-to-date review of their developments in modeling, solution approaches, and innovative applications facilitating indirect control from DSOs. Challenges and future research directions are also discussed

User preferences for local P2P electricity markets - Dataset

User preferences for local electricity markets - Dataset This is the dataset containing the results of a survey conducted among residential users in the Netherlands on their preferences for peer-to-peer electricity trading in local markets.  The survey is based on Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) methodlogy. The data was collected online between May and June 2021. The survey was conducted as part of the research project P2P TALES - "Enabling peer-to-peer energy trading by leveraging prosumer analytics" with project number 647.003.003, partly supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).   </p

A Reputation Management System for the Fair Utilization of Community Energy Storage Systems

This paper investigates the implementation of a community energy storage system (CESS) in a neighborhood consisting of households with flexible and inflexible loads, as well as photovoltaic power generation. The system incorporates overlay services (OS) such as fairness management, increasing the fairness level while maximizing CESS utilization, and reputation management, reducing the impact of households trying to take advantage of the system. Additionally, a credit scheme for households, referred to as the quota system, is introduced, allowing households to only import from the battery the amount of energy they have previously contributed. This quota system includes a way to trade credit with other households, as part of the OS. The case study shows that the introduction of the OS on top of a CESS of 50 kWh results in a drop in peak transformer load from 235.7% to 166.9%, with the peak load at 264.3% without a CESS present. Additionally, it is shown that introducing these OS in a CESS does not significantly impact the mean household cost

A Review of Network Modeling and Services Integration in Peer-to-Peer Electricity Markets

Engaging small actors in the electricity market through peer-to-peer (P2P) trading is a developing field of research. Despite the numerous approaches that have been proposed, a number of questions remain open. An important challenge is related to the integration of the distribution network constraints and the role of network operators in these new market models. In this paper, advancements made in this area are reviewed. Relevant methodologies that have been proposed in the technical literature are classified based on the market model, the network modeling approach, as well as the inclusion of an additional market structure for procuring ancillary services

Switching Sequence Optimization for Service Restoration in Distribution Networks

This study considers the service restoration problem in medium voltage distribution networks that have a meshed topology but are operated radially. A mixed-integer linear program (MILP) is proposed to incorporate technical constraints as well as practical considerations from the Distribution System Operator (DSO). As a result, a sequence of switching steps that need to be done to restore the power supply to the customers is provided. The proposed methodology can assist the decision making of operators in the control center at the DSO. To demonstrate this, a real distribution network is used in a case study