Economic Implications of DSO-TSO Coordination Schemes at a System Level and for Market Actors in case of Flexibility or Traditional Grid-based Solution

This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate the economic implication of the use of flexibility to solve both joint DSO-TSO and local DSO-specific congestion management needs. The presented methodology enables evaluating the economic implications at a system level and per market actor according to the selected DSO-TSO coordination scheme and given flexibility needs. Firstly, several DSO-TSO coordination schemes are presented to solve joint needs, in which market access to flexible resources at the distribution grid is enabled to a greater or lesser extent. Secondly, the use of flexibility is compared to traditional grid solutions (i.e., grid reinforcement, temporary commissioning services) to enable the DSO to make cost-efficient grid decisions in the short and medium term. Finally, the economic impact on flexible service providers at the distribution level is carefully presented. This methodology seeks to support energy policies and other regulatory decisions.This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement nº 824414. TECNALIA is a “CERVERA Technology Centre of Excellence” recognized by the Ministry of Science and Innovatio

Real-Time Flexibility Market Participation of Thermostatically Controlled Loads

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of using the aggregated flexibility of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) to provide balancing and congestion management services to system operators through the participation in a real-time flexibility market. To this aim, a TCL aggregation model that employs a bottom-up approach based on physical end-use load models has been developed. A direct load control (DLC) scheme is considered, where the control variable is the thermostat temperature setpoint. This temperature can be manipulated between the upper and lower limits set by end-users, who receive an economic compensation in exchange for the loss of comfort. As output a set of flexibility bids to be sent to the market are obtained. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed aggregation model and estimate the overall flexibility potential from TCLs, a large-scale case study, based on a future power system in Spain has been considered.H2020, 824414, CoordiNe

A Straightforward Methodology to Obtain the Power Coefficients Matrices for Unbalanced Distribution Networks to be Used in Flexibility Markets

The objective of the paper is to address the congestion problem in a specific distribution line by means of sensitivity coefficients seeking an intelligent a ctivation of t he available flexibility, based not only on economic a spects but also on the efficient use of flexibility. This paper proposes a straightforward methodology to obtain the sensitivity coefficient matrices for the unbalanced distribution networks, employing the perturb-and-observe (P & O) approach to assure an efficient usage of flexible resources. This means that a small change in the active power value of a particular flexibility provider, either load or generator, is applied to evaluate the power variation, therefore the loading variation, in every line of the system. The paper shows how these coefficients can be implemented in at heoretical energy market by the market operators by validating its application in an unbalanced network case and then compared with a real balanced distribution network. The simulations have been carried out in DIgSILENT PowerFactory through its API in Python.H2020, 824414, CoordiNe

Primary care utilisation patterns among an urban immigrant population in the Spanish National Health System

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is evidence suggesting that the use of health services is lower among immigrants after adjusting for age and sex. This study takes a step forward to compare primary care (PC) utilisation patterns between immigrants and the native population with regard to their morbidity burden.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This retrospective, observational study looked at 69,067 individuals representing the entire population assigned to three urban PC centres in the city of Zaragoza (Aragon, Spain). Poisson models were applied to determine the number of annual PC consultations per individual based on immigration status. All models were first adjusted for age and sex and then for age, sex and case mix (ACG System^®).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age and sex adjusted mean number of total annual consultations was lower among the immigrant population (children: IRR = 0.79, p < 0.05; adults: IRR = 0.73, p < 0.05). After adjusting for morbidity burden, this difference decreased among children (IRR = 0.94, p < 0.05) and disappeared among adults (IRR = 1.00). Further analysis considering the PC health service and type of visit revealed higher usage of routine diagnostic tests among immigrant children (IRR = 1.77, p < 0.05) and a higher usage of emergency services among the immigrant adult population (IRR = 1.2, p < 0.05) after adjusting for age, sex and case mix.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although immigrants make lower use of PC services than the native population after adjusting the consultation rate for age and sex, these differences decrease significantly when considering their morbidity burden. These results reinforce the 'healthy migration effect' and discount the existence of differences in PC utilisation patterns between the immigrant and native populations in Spain.</p

Towards Sustainable Mobility: An Optimization-Based Approach for Smart EV Charging Reducing Grid and Environmental Impact

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 IEEE.The widespread use of the electric vehicle (EV) will put a strain on the electricity charging cost, distribution network stress, and environmental impact due to polluting emissions from the generation mix. This vision leads to developing smart charging strategies, especially in low-voltage distribution networks, to take advantage of local photovoltaic (PV) generation and long car parking periods at home or at the workplace. This paper presents a novel EV smart charging model for private charging stations as a deterministic mixed-integer linear programming problem. It pursues to minimize the EV charging cost while efficiently managing PV self-consumption, PV surplus, and vehicle-to-grid capability via retail price signals. The dependency on the distribution network is reduced through a limited contracted power. The users' environmental concern is included, being influenced by the share of generation technologies free of CO2 emission. The results demonstrate that the smart EV charging optimization in individual or collective charging stations has huge potential to reduce the energy supply cost and enhance the use of existing EV infrastructure, reducing the need for network upgrades and enabling a higher hosting capacity. Indeed, the results show that the EV charging cost has been reduced by more than 40.4%, and the contracted power up to 68.7% in collective charging stations compared to uncontrolled EV charging.ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was supported by the Basque Government under the CHARGER+ project (KK-2022/00100, Elkartek program).Peer reviewe

Modeling Local Energy Markets Transactions for Multi-Energy Systems in Low-Voltage Unbalanced Distribution Networks

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 IEEE.Local energy markets (LEMs) for multi-energy systems have emerged as promising solutions to facilitate energy sharing within local communities, potentially reducing energy costs, promoting renewable energy generation, and increasing energy efficiency. In this regard, analyzing the energy traded among users in local communities is crucial, as well as the characteristics of the electrical network where they are connected. In the residential sector, the low-voltage (LV) distribution network plays a vital role due to its unbalanced nature, where loads and distributed energy resources are unevenly distributed per phase, leading to conditions such as single-phase generators serving users with three-phase connections. Thus, to accurately model user transactions and capture the interaction between buyers and sellers on the LV network, this article proposes a deterministic mixed-integer second-order cone programming model for LEMs in an unbalanced active distribution network, considering both electricity and gas as energy vectors. The unbalanced model is compared with the balanced single-phase formulation using a modified version of a real LV feeder, showing that balanced models could overestimate the energy traded in LEM and have a more stable voltage pattern, which could underestimate the real voltage limits and affect the network safety.This work is associated with the INTEGRATE project PID2021-128574OB-I00, financed by MCIN /AEIPeer reviewe

Design and Experimental Comparison of Energy Management Strategies for Hybrid Electric Buses based on Test-bench Simulation

International audienc

Experimental comparison of energy management strategies for a hybrid electric bus in a test-bench

International audienc