Value of thermostatic loads in future low-carbon Great Britain system

This paper quantifies the value of a large population of heterogeneous thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). The TCL dynamics are regulated by means of an advanced demand side response model (DSRM). It optimally determines the flexible energy/power consumption and simultaneously allocates multiple ancillary services. This model explicitly incorporates the control of dynamics of the TCL recovery pattern after the provision of the selected services. The proposed framework is integrated in a mixed integer linear programming formulation for a multi-stage stochastic unit commitment. The scheduling routine considers inertia-dependent frequency response requirements to deal with the drastic reduction of system inertia under future low-carbon scenarios. Case studies focus on the system operation cost and CO2 emissions reductions for individual TCLs for a) different future network scenarios, b) different frequency requirements, c) changes of TCL parameters (e.g. coefficient of performance, thermal insulation etc.)

Benefits of demand-side response in providing frequency response service in the future GB power system

The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future Great Britain (GB) electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from demand-side response (DSR). The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment, and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterized by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant) delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage, and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider

Theoretical prediction of magnetic exchange coupling constants from broken-symmetry coupled cluster calculations

Exchange coupling constants (J) are fundamental to the understanding of spin spectra of magnetic systems. Here, we investigate the broken-symmetry (BS) approaches of Noodleman and Yamaguchi in conjunction with coupled cluster (CC) methods to obtain exchange couplings. J values calculated from CC in this fashion converge smoothly toward the full configuration interaction result with increasing level of CC excitation. We compare this BS-CC scheme to the complementary equation-of-motion CC approach on a selection of bridged molecular cases and give results from a few other methodologies for context

Challenges of Primary Frequency Control and Benefits of Primary Frequency Response Support from Electric Vehicles

As the integration of wind generation displaces conventional plants, system inertia provided by rotating mass declines, causing concerns over system frequency stability. This paper implements an advanced stochastic scheduling model with inertia-dependent fast frequency response requirements to investigate the challenges on the primary frequency control in the future Great Britain electricity system. The results suggest that the required volume and the associated cost of primary frequency response increase significantly along with the increased capacity of wind plants. Alternative measures (e.g. electric vehicles) have been proposed to alleviate these concerns. Therefore, this paper also analyses the benefits of primary frequency response support from electric vehicles in reducing system operation cost, wind curtailment and carbon emissions

Market value of differentially-private smart meter data

This paper proposes a framework to investigate the value of sharing privacy-protected smart meter data between domestic consumers and load serving entities. The framework consists of a discounted differential privacy model to ensure individuals cannot be identified from aggregated data, a ANN-based short-term load forecasting to quantify the impact of data availability and privacy protection on the forecasting error and an optimal procurement problem in day-ahead and balancing markets to assess the market value of the privacy-utility trade-off. The framework demonstrates that when the load profile of a consumer group differs from the system average, which is quantified using the Kullback-Leibler divergence, there is significant value in sharing smart meter data while retaining individual consumer privacy

Mapping Interactions between mRNA Export Factors in Living Cells

The TREX complex couples nuclear mRNA processing events with subsequent export to the cytoplasm. TREX also acts as a binding platform for the mRNA export receptor Nxf1. The sites of mRNA transcription and processing within the nucleus have been studied extensively. However, little is known about where TREX assembly takes place and where Nxf1 is recruited to TREX to form the export competent mRNP. Here we have used sensitized emission Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM)-FRET, to produce a spatial map in living cells of the sites for the interaction of two TREX subunits, Alyref and Chtop, with Nxf1. Prominent assembly sites for export factors are found in the vicinity of nuclear speckles in regions known to be involved in transcription, splicing and exon junction complex formation highlighting the close coupling of mRNA export with mRNP biogenesis

A two-dimensional ultrasonic model study of compressional and shear-wave diffraction patterns produced by a circular cavity

Diffraction patterns of compressional (P) and shear (SV) waves produced by a circular hole were experimentally obtained on a two-dimensional ultrasonic model. The shapes of the Fresnel patterns were found to depend on, 1) α/λ, the ratio of the radius of the cylinder to the wavelength; and, 2) the wave type. The transitional zone between the illuminated and the shadow regions broadens, and the half-amplitude point shifts away from the geometrical shadow as α/λ decreases. For comparable α/λ, the shadow boundary of the SV wave appears to start much earlier than that of the P wave

Functional consequence of a novel Y129C mutation in a patient with two contradictory melanocortin-2-receptor mutations

L F C and T-T C are supported by M R C Clinical Research Training Fellowships (grant numbers G0600408, G0700581) and L A M by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 076430/Z/05/7)

Stochastic scheduling with inertia-dependent fast frequency response requirements

High penetration of wind generation will increase the requirement for fast frequency response services as currently wind plants do not provide inertial response. Although the importance of inertia reduction has been widely recognized, its impact on the system scheduling has not been fully investigated. In this context, this paper proposes a novel mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for stochastic unit commitment that optimizes system operation by simultaneously scheduling energy production, standing/spinning reserves and inertia-dependent fast frequency response in light of uncertainties associated with wind production and generation outages. Post-fault dynamic frequency requirements, rate of change of frequency, frequency nadir and quasi-steady-state frequency are formulated as MILP constraints by using the simplified model of system dynamics. Moreover the proposed methodology enables the impact of wind uncertainty on system inertia to be considered. Case studies are carried out on the 2030 Great Britain system to demonstrate the importance of incorporating inertia-dependent fast frequency response in the stochastic scheduling and to indicate the potential for the proposed model to inform reviews of grid codes associated with fast frequency response and future development of inertia-related market