Smart Regulation for Distribution Networks – Modelling New Local Electricity Markets and Regulatory Frameworks for the Integration of Distributed Electricity Generation Resources

Growing awareness of the effects of man-made global warming is leading societies worldwide to re-evaluate our seemingly ever-increasing energy requirements. The need to understand and mitigate the issues brought about by our current use of the world's resources has thus become a pivotal element in the political agendas of most regions. Accordingly, curbing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions has been the goal of many of the political decisions of the past decade. In this context, the electricity sector is undergoing deep structural changes to accommodate intermittent renewable electricity generation resources into a system originally designed to rely on dispatchable power plants to supply our energy needs. One of the main changes consists of a decentralisation of the sector, bringing the generation assets closer to the place of final consumption. This creates regulatory challenges that may jeopardise the integration of distributed renewable energy resources (DER). This PhD dissertation presents several research contributions dealing with these challenges. In the first part of our work, we have created a simulation-based approach to study the effects of different regulatory frameworks on the deployment of DER installations. DER deployment, in turn, is shown to have a notable impact on the revenue of the distribution system operator (DSO), which is also assessed with our simulator. Our approach is designed so as to offer a tool for policy makers and regulators to discriminate between different regulatory frameworks depending on their impact on the distribution network, before implementing them in real life. The second part of our dissertation models different decentralised electricity markets where consumers may exchange electricity, focusing on the concept of renewable energy communities (REC). We have designed a model of interaction that simulates an REC where its members can offer flexibility services by means of a centralised agent such as the REC manager. In addition, we analyse the allocation of local electricity generation among the REC members, and propose an algorithm based on \emph{repartition keys} to minimise the total electricity costs of the REC. The modelling tools developed in this thesis highlight a trade-off between promoting the integration of DER and containing their impact on the DSO revenue. In addition, they show that creating RECs may help maximise the use of local production and, therefore, lower the electricity costs of these communities. Despite having been studied for a few decades now, the promotion of DER is still very much in the political agenda in many regions. Unstable policies concerning these technologies, along with an insufficient understanding of the challenges they pose to the traditional electricity system, have hindered their natural integration into the electricity networks. These problems, though deeply studied in this thesis, call for further research to fight man-made global warming

Exploring Regulation Policies in Distribution Networks through a Multi-Agent Simulator

This paper presents a multi-agent simulator that describes the interactions between the agents of a distribution network (DN), and an environment. The agents are the users of the DN and the electricity distribution system operator. The environment is the set of rules (tariff design, technology costs, or incentive schemes) that impacts the agents interactions. For a given environment, we can simulate the evolution of the agents and the environment itself. We assume the electricity consumers are rational agents that may deploy distributed renewable energy installations if they are cost-efficient compared to the retail electricity tariff. The deployment of such installations may alter the cost recovery scheme of the distribution system operator, by inducing a change in the way the user use of the grid. By modelling the cost recovery mechanism of the distribution system operator, the system simulates the evolution of the retail electricity tariff in response to such a change in the aggregated consumption and production.Peer reviewe

Global electricity network - Feasibility study

With the strong development of renewable energy sources worldwide, the concept of a global electricity network has been imagined in order to take advantage of the diversity from different time zones, seasons, load patterns and the intermittency of the generation, thus supporting a balanced coordination of power supply of all interconnected countries. The TB presents the results of the feasibility study performed by WG C1.35. It addresses the challenges, benefits and issues of uneven distribution of energy resources across the world. The time horizon selected is 2050. The study finds significant potential benefits of a global interconnection, identifies the most promising links, and includes sensitivity analyses to different factors, such as wind energy capacity factors or technology costs

Exploring Regulation Policies in Distribution Networks through a Multi-Agent Simulator

peer reviewedThis paper presents a multi-agent simulator that describes the interactions between the agents of a distribution network (DN), and an environment. The agents are the users of the DN and the electricity distribution system operator. The environment is the set of rules (tariff design, technology costs, or incentive schemes) that impacts the agents interactions. For a given environment, we can simulate the evolution of the agents and the environment itself. We assume the electricity consumers are rational agents that may deploy distributed renewable energy installations if they are cost-efficient compared to the retail electricity tariff. The deployment of such installations may alter the cost recovery scheme of the distribution system operator, by inducing a change in the way the user use of the grid. By modelling the cost recovery mechanism of the distribution system operator, the system simulates the evolution of the retail electricity tariff in response to such a change in the aggregated consumption and production

A multi-agent system approach to model the interaction between distributed generation deployment and the grid

peer reviewedThis paper introduces a multi-agent dynamical system of the interaction between electricity consumers, the electricity distribution system operator, and the technological (generation, storage) and regulatory (tariff design, incentive schemes) environments. For any type of environment, our dynamical system simulates the evolution of the deployment of distributed electricity generation, as well as the evolution of the cost of distribution. The system relies on the assumption that individual electricity consumers behave statistically as rational agents, who may invest in optimised distributed renewable energy installations, if they are cost-efficient compared to the retail electricity tariff. The deployment of these installations induces a change in the aggregated net consumption and generation of the users of a distribution network. By modelling the cost recovery mechanism of the distribution system operator, the system simulates the evolution of the retail electricity tariff in response to such a change in the aggregated consumption and production

Residential Energy Communities: How to minimize the investment risk from an investor perspective

peer reviewedThe success of local renewable energy communities, now foreseen by new the European Union directives but also growing worldwide, will rely on the appetite of consumers and investors. This is not obvious when the target local area is a residential community where people have varying expectations. Based on Bayesian game theory (also called game of incomplete information), the purpose of this paper is to define an approach for determining, from the point of view of the renewable energy investor, the level of production capacity and optimum energy price to be offered to the consumers

Harnessing the flexibility of energy management systems: a retailer perspective

peer reviewedThe business of electricity retailing is changing following the current evolution of the electricity system. An example of such an evolution is the increasing number of clients installing sophisticated energy management systems controlling the production or consumption of a large variety of devices as, for instance, photovoltaic panels with storage solutions. These systems, if managed properly, may provide flexibility to the electricity system to which they are connected, typically by means of an intermediary such as a retailer. Retailers could transfer such flexibility in consumption/production of electricity to the day-ahead and intraday electricity markets, trade it with other balance responsible parties, or use it to participate in the imbalance market. This paper defines an interaction model between a retailer and its clients, based on generic flexibility bids over multiple market periods. The defined interaction model relies on smart meters for registering the trades of electricity and requires no modification of the current rules and regulations of the European electricity system. The concept of flexibility is defined with respect to a baseline, which is negotiated and agreed upon between the retailer and each client. This baseline can be modified by the client following an update mechanism, which must comply with certain security checks by the retailer in order to make sure it is not fraudulent. Any deviations from the quarter-hourly comparison between expected and actual production/consumption are invoiced at a discounted price