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Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 8811

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hessam Golmohamadi

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Guest Editor

Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Interests: electricity market; demand-side management; demand–response aggregation; intelligent energy systems

Dr. Hossein Farahmand

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Guest Editor

Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Trondheim, Norway
Interests: electrical power engineering; electricity market; hydro scheduling; hydrogen; power system; balancing; smart grid; sustainable energy systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decade, the penetration of renewable energies, including wind and solar, has been increasing in power systems all over the world. Increasing the intermittency and volatility of the supply side, the demand-side flexibility is a practical solution to hedge against uncertain renewable power. In the demand side, there are structural flexibility potentials in different sectors, including residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial sectors. Additionally, increasing the penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV), the demand response programs of responsive PEVs have attracted much attention. Therefore, new studies should be conducted to unlock the flexibility potentials of the demand sectors. In the residential sector, electrically operated heating–cooling systems, e.g., heat pumps and air conditioning, have great potentials for power system flexibility. In the commercial sector, e.g., supermarket refrigerators and data centers, heat waste can be recovered to provide power system flexibility. Regarding the agricultural sectors, there are considerable flexibility potentials in the irrigation systems of agricultural lands and dairy farms. The industries, including both light and heavy industries, exhibit considerable flexibility potentials in industrial processes. In this way, cement manufactories, metal smelting plants, and food industries can be addressed. Regarding PEVs, smart parking lots play an important role in power system flexibility in the near future. The parking lots can be equipped with smart charging stations to optimize charging/discharging strategies of PEVs, providing power system flexibility.

Unlocking flexibility potentials of different sectors, power flexibilities are integrated into electricity market floors. To trade power flexibilities, different market floors are defined, including day-ahead, intraday, and balancing markets, to adjust electricity consumption based on renewable power availability. In this way, flexibility potentials are integrated into the market floors hierarchically based on long, mid, and short notices. The notices are organized based on renewable power availability.

In this context, the main scope of this Special Issue is to collect new methods applicable in demand-side management to provide power flexibility for electricity markets with high penetration of renewable power. Review papers are also welcomed. Multidisciplinary research and cutting-edge approaches are invited to address the challenges raised by modern power systems and deregulated energy markets.

Dr. Hessam Golmohamadi
Dr. Hossein Farahmand
Guest Editors

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Keywords

demand-side management
semand flexibility
smart grid
electricity market
demand response aggregator
intelligent energy systems
demand response provider
renewable power
flexibility potentials
energy storage
energy economics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3640 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of a Fuzzy Adaptive Voltage Controller for a Nonlinear Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell with an Unknown Dynamical System

by Reza Ghasemi, Mehdi Sedighi, Mostafa Ghasemi and Bita Sadat Ghazanfarpoor

Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13609; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813609 - 12 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 565

Abstract

This paper presents a fuzzy adaptive controller (FAC) for improving the efficiency and stability of fuel cells, assuming that the nonlinear dynamic model of the system is unknown. In polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, the output voltage should be controlled within a given interval. In contrast to prior studies that focused on designing controllers for known dynamical models of PEM fuel cells, the suggested approach addresses the real-world case of a PEM fuel cell with unknown dynamics. An intelligent technique is identified in the suggested strategy to approximate the state-space model of fuel cells to manage unknown functions. On an unknown model of fuel cells, traditional adaptive and fuzzy adaptive controllers are both implemented and compared. The main advantages of the proposed methodology are (1) stability of the closed-loop system using Lyapunov, (2) robustness against external disturbances, (3) application of the FAC to a PEM fuel cell, (4) convergence of the tracking error to 0, and (5) overcoming both unknown dynamics and uncertainty in the system. The most important and valuable advantages of the proposed system are its robustness, tracking error convergence, and Lyapunov stability. This manuscript aims to illustrate the responsiveness and fluency of the proposed procedure using a mathematical formulation of a multi-quadrotor system. As a result, the FAC is more efficient than the traditional one. To validate the controller performance, both the adaptive and fuzzy adaptive controllers are applied to a numerical model of a fuel cell and then compared. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids)

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31 pages, 8591 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimizing the Performance of Commercial Demand Response Aggregator Using the Risk-Averse Function of Information-Gap Decision Theory

by Ghasem Ansari and Reza Keypour

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6243; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076243 - 5 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1248

Abstract

Power systems face challenges with regard to handling the high penetration of renewable energies, including energy intermittency and fluctuations, which are not present in conventional electricity systems. Various flexibility models have been developed to address these fluctuations, including demand-side flexibility, which offers a practical solution with which to overcome these challenges in all demand sectors, including the commercial sector. This paper proposes a new structure for the participation of the commercial sector in the electricity market to integrate and coordinate the consumption of the commercial sector. Unlike previous studies that had commercial consumers participate in the electricity market individually and sometimes fail to meet the requirements for flexibility programs, this study adopts a commercial aggregator to enhance the responsiveness of commercial systems. The proposed structure includes a mathematical model for commercial systems, e.g., shopping centers, with responsive ventilation systems to achieve demand flexibility. The study also uses the information-gap decision theory to address time-based commercial demand response planning from 24 h ahead to near real time. Moreover, a multi-layered structure is proposed to integrate the flexibility of shopping centers from the demand side to the supply side through a newly invented commercial demand response aggregator. The proposed approach was implemented in the New York electricity market, and the results show that it provides demand flexibility for up to 18% of the nominal level of electricity consumption compared to the traditional system. The paper aims to present a responsive structure for commercial systems, addressing the challenges of integrating renewable energies with the electricity system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids)

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17 pages, 3425 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robust Optimization-Based Optimal Operation of Islanded Microgrid Considering Demand Response

by Monir Sadat AlDavood, Abolfazl Mehbodniya, Julian L. Webber, Mohammad Ensaf and Mahdi Azimian

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14194; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114194 - 31 Oct 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1283

Abstract

This paper presents a new robust scheduling model for an islanded microgrid (MG) considering demand response. The model is expressed as a min–max bilevel optimization problem that tries to minimize the total costs of MG including operation cost of conventional distributed generators, energy storages, renewable energy sources (RES), cost of load shifting, and interruptible/non-interruptible load shedding in the worst situation of uncertainties. The uncertainties associated with renewable power generations and MG demand are modeled via robust optimization method. A hybrid method based on the genetic algorithm (GA) and mixed-integer programming technique is utilized to solve the bilevel optimization problem. The proposed model is utilized on a typical MG, and the outcomes are analyzed to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids)

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30 pages, 9496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Probabilistic Optimization of Networked Multi-Carrier Microgrids to Enhance Resilience Leveraging Demand Response Programs

by Mahdi Azimian, Vahid Amir, Reza Habibifar and Hessam Golmohamadi

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5792; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115792 - 21 May 2021

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 2055

Abstract

Microgrids have emerged as a practical solution to improve the power system resilience against unpredicted failures and power outages. Microgrids offer substantial benefits for customers through the local supply of domestic demands as well as reducing curtailment during possible disruptions. Furthermore, the interdependency of natural gas and power networks is a key factor in energy systems’ resilience during critical hours. This paper suggests a probabilistic optimization of networked multi-carrier microgrids (NMCMG), addressing the uncertainties associated with thermal and electrical demands, renewable power generation, and the electricity market. The approach aims to minimize the NMCMG costs associated with the operation, maintenance, CO2e emission, startup and shutdown cost of units, incentive and penalty payments, as well as load curtailment during unpredicted failures. Moreover, two types of demand response programs (DRPs), including time-based and incentive-based DRPs, are addressed. The DRPs unlock the flexibility potentials of domestic demands to compensate for the power shortage during critical hours. The heat-power dual dependency characteristic of combined heat and power systems as a substantial technology in microgrids is considered in the model. The simulation results confirm that the suggested NMCMG not only integrates the flexibility potentials into the microgrids but also enhances the resilience of the energy systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids)

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18 pages, 4929 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Eco-Emission Analysis of Multi-Carrier Microgrid Integrated with Compressed Air and Power-to-Gas Energy Storage Technologies

by Khashayar Hamedi, Shahrbanoo Sadeghi, Saeed Esfandi, Mahdi Azimian and Hessam Golmohamadi

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4681; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094681 - 22 Apr 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2579

Abstract

Growing concerns about global greenhouse gas emissions have led power systems to utilize clean and highly efficient resources. In the meantime, renewable energy plays a vital role in energy prospects worldwide. However, the random nature of these resources has increased the demand for energy storage systems. On the other hand, due to the higher efficiency of multi-energy systems compared to single-energy systems, the development of such systems, which are based on different types of energy carriers, will be more attractive for the utilities. Thus, this paper represents a multi-objective assessment for the operation of a multi-carrier microgrid (MCMG) in the presence of high-efficiency technologies comprising compressed air energy storage (CAES) and power-to-gas (P2G) systems. The objective of the model is to minimize the operation cost and environmental pollution. CAES has a simple-cycle mode operation besides the charging and discharging modes to provide more flexibility in the system. Furthermore, the demand response program is employed in the model to mitigate the peaks. The proposed system participates in both electricity and gas markets to supply the energy requirements. The weighted sum approach and fuzzy-based decision-making are employed to compromise the optimum solutions for conflicting objective functions. The multi-objective model is examined on a sample system, and the results for different cases are discussed. The results show that coupling CAES and P2G systems mitigate the wind power curtailment and minimize the cost and pollution up to 14.2% and 9.6%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration of Demand-Side Flexibility into Smart Grids)

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