A Multihorizon Approach for the Reliability Oriented Network Restructuring Problem, Considering Learning Effects, Construction Time, and Cables Maintenance Costs

This paper presents a techno-economic optimisation tool to study how the power system expansion decisions can be taken in a more economical and efficient way, by minimising the consequent costs of network reinforcement and reconfiguration. Analyses are performed to investigate how the network reinforcement and reconfiguration should be planned, within a time horizon of several years, by continuously keeping the network feasibility and ability to satisfy the load. The main contribution of this study is the inclusion of key features within the mathematical model to enhance the investment decision making process. A representative maintenance cost of existing cables and apparatus is included, to analyse the influence of the historical performance of the electric items on the investment decisions. A multihorizon methodology is developed to take into account the long term variation of the demand, combined with the long term variation of cables maintenance costs. Moreover, technological learning coefficients are considered, to take into account the investment costs reductions that arise when an investment in network restructuring and/or reconfiguration is repeated throughout the years. Finally, construction time constraints are included to find a proper investment scheduling that allows a feasible power flow, also during the years required to build a new connection or restructure an existing one. This study is also providing recommendations for future research directions within the power system reliability field. The analyses show the important and urgent need of proper methodologies for a better definition of cables projected maintenance costs and learning coefficients dedicated to network restructuring, reconfiguration and expansion.Comment: 22 pages, 21 figure

Educating the energy informatics specialist: opportunities and challenges in light of research and industrial trends

Contemporary energy research is becoming more interdisciplinary through the involvement of technical, economic, and social aspects that must be addressed simultaneously. Within such interdisciplinary energy research, the novel domain of energy informatics plays an important role, as it involves different disciplines addressing the socio-techno-economic challenges of sustainable energy and power systems in a holistic manner. The objective of this paper is to draw an overview of the novel domain of energy informatics by addressing the educational opportunities as well as related challenges in light of current trends and the future direction of research and industrial innovation. In this study we discuss the energy informatics domain in a way that goes beyond a purely scientific research perspective. This paper widens the analyses by including reflections on current and future didactic approaches with industrial innovation and research as a background. This paper provides key recommendations for the content of a foundational introductory energy informatics course, as well as suggestions on distinguishing features to be addressed through more specialized courses in the field. The importance of this work is based on the need for better guidelines for a more appropriate education of a new generation of experts who can take on the novel interdisciplinary challenges present in future integrated, sustainable energy systems

Reliability framework for power network assessment

Reliability of power system in terms of investments in network maintenance and restructuring for power distribution network has gained importance due to increase in distributed generation. To determine the reliability of the power distribution network, the state of power apparatus, losses in the network and consumer satisfaction indices are key factors. Considering the aforementioned, this paper proposes a holistic reliability framework for power distribution networks. The framework lists the following factors: life cycle of power apparatus, environmental and sociological, node reliability, arc reliability. A case study for reliability evaluation is performed on a modified IEEE 14 bus network. Furthermore, multiple scenarios of generation fault or outage are studied and results are presented. The key contribution of this paper is to present a novel and holistic reliability framework to model distribution network

Smart contract formation enabling energy-as-a-service in a virtual power plant

Energy as a service (EaaS) is an emerging business model that enables the otherwise passive energy consumers to play an active role and participate in the energy utility services. This platform is formed through smart contracts registering peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions of energy through price and quantity. Many industries, including finance, have already leveraged smart contracts to introduce digital currencies. At this time, the utility industry is faced with the challenge of how to structure smart contract formation in a local energy market. Specifically, they are faced with the challenge of maintaining a balance between energy generation and demand while enabling traceability, security, and unbiased peer-to-peer energy transactions, especially within a virtual power plant. This article aims at addressing the aforementioned challenges. In particular, this article investigates how to structure the microgrids in a local energy market, and how to ensure balance and resiliency with incomplete information. Taking various generation asset dimensions and demand profiles into account, simulations are performed. A novel evolutionary computing strategy to structure the simulation is proposed. A comparison is made among random order, random selection, profit-based ranking, and evolutionary strategy for coordinating the contract formation. The discussions draw attention to each method's advantages and disadvantages in terms of their value as a strategy for forming smart contracts in a local energy market

Digital Energy Platforms Considering Digital Privacy and Security by Design Principles

The power system and markets have become increasingly complex, along with efforts to digitalize the energy sector. Accessing flexibility services, in particular, through digital energy platforms, has enabled communication between multiple entities within the energy system and streamlined flexibility market operations. However, digitalizing these vast and complex systems introduces new cybersecurity and privacy concerns, which must be properly addressed during the design of the digital energy platform ecosystems. More specifically, both privacy and cybersecurity measures should be embedded into all phases of the platform design and operation, based on the privacy and security by design principles. In this study, these principles are used to propose a holistic but generic architecture for digital energy platforms that are able to facilitate multiple use cases for flexibility services in the energy sector. A hybrid framework using both DLT and non-DLT solutions ensures trust throughout the layers of the platform architecture. Furthermore, an evaluation of numerous energy flexibility service use cases operating at various stages of the energy value chain is shown and graded in terms of digital energy platform technical maturity, privacy, and cybersecurity issues

Models for Modern Power Distribution System Planning. Kaasaegsete jaotusv\uf5rkude planeerimise mudelid

Doctoral thesis 76/2018 Doktorit\uf6\uf6 76/201

RNR: Reliability oriented Network Restructuring

This paper presents the reliability indicators for power system restructuring. A reliability oriented network restructuring (RNR) mathematical formulation is proposed for solving power grid expansion decision with non-linear AC-OPF. The microgrid structures are derived from the standard IEEE 14 bus system architecture. The proposed reliability framework is implemented with the set of reliability indicators for measuring the system performance. The model was solved using outer approximation algorithm. The analysis is conducted to investigate the importance of restructuring in an investment decision for the expansion. The results with a comparison between investment and investment with restructuring are outlined. Consequently the expansion considering the restructuring is found to be practical and feasible.RNR: Reliability oriented Network RestructuringacceptedVersio

Multivariate Scenario Generation －An Arima and Copula Approach

In mathematical optimization uncertainty is expressed through scenarios. auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) is one of the known practice to generate scenarios. This paper is about scenario generation using multivariate data: electrical power demand, wind power generation and energy market price. An ARIMA model along with Copula is implemented for scenario generation. The results are presented and discussed.Multivariate Scenario Generation －An Arima and Copula ApproachpublishedVersio

A Health-Energy Nexus Perspective for Virtual Power Plants: Power Systems Resiliency and Pandemic Uncertainty Challenges

This chapter introduces and discusses a novel “health-energy nexus under pandemic uncertainty” concept that arises as a consequence of the current pandemic that we are experiencing worldwide. In light of the pandemic implications on the power and energy systems, we discuss how the global health conditions are tightly connected with the energy consumption needs and how the two areas closely interact with each other. A real-world dataset from the Estonian energy consumption over three years (2018, 2019, 2020), together with information gathered in the recent literature, will be illustrated to motivate the foundations behind the health-energy nexus concept. Opportunities and challenges that lie behind the interaction between health and energy will be outlined, and ways to address the changes in the power systems resiliency due to pandemic conditions will be discussed. Virtual power plants will be presented, as a way to address the pandemic challenges and improve the systems’ resiliency and reliability. A novel concept of Cyber-Physical Health-Energy Systems will be discussed. Moreover, the value of interdisciplinary education and research, together with the novel interdisciplinary domain of energy informatics, will be proposed as key pathways to overcoming the challenges posed by the novel health-energy nexus under pandemic uncertainty