Distributed, Renewable, and Mobile Resources

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https://hdl.handle.net/10125/79225

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    Virtual Power Plant Day Ahead Energy Unit Commitment
    ( 2022-01-04) Arias, Andres Felipe ; Lamadrid, Alberto ; Valencia, Carlos
    In this article we present a model for the interaction of distributed energy resources (DER) with the electricity system, using reinforcement learning. Our method relaxes the requirements for information necessary to train and engage in Pareto improving trading, and can directly incorporate the inherent intermittency of variable renewable energy sources. The distributed resources include consumers of electricity, energy storage systems, and variable renewable energy. We modify the algorithms to improve the scheduling of the resources. In our empirical application, we use data from Colombia subject to large variability due to El Niño Southern Oscillation and illustrate the use of the model under large variations in the data used to train the model.
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    The Role of Distributed Energy Resources in Distribution System Restoration
    ( 2022-01-04) Rhodes, Noah ; Roald, Line
    With increasing levels of distributed energy resources (DERs) connected to the grid, it is important to understand the role that DERs can play in post-disaster restoration. In this paper, we propose a two-step optimization method to identify and implement an optimal restoration schedule under different DER operating scenarios. We investigate how the presence and geographical distribution of DERs change the optimal restoration order, and assess the impacts on customers with and without DERs. In our case study using the IEEE 123 single phase distribution system, we find that optimal restoration order changes significantly when DERs are concentrated in one part of the grid. We also observe that the presence of DERs generally reduces the energy not served across all customers and can help prioritize grid reconnection of customers without DERs.
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    On the Environmental and Economic Impact of Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Deployment
    ( 2022-01-04) Peerzada, Aaqib ; Begovic, Miroslav M. ; Ostojic, Dejan
    As per the U.S Energy Information Administration’s latest inventory of electricity generators, renewable energy, most notably solar and wind, will account for roughly 70% of nearly 40 gigawatts of new electricity generating capacity to start commercial operation in 2021. The year 2021 will also set a record in the deployment of utility-scale solar capacity by adding 15.4 gigawatts of capacity to the grid, which surpasses the 12 gigawatts increase in 2020. The rapid increase of renewable energy is expected to significantly decrease emissions of greenhouse gases and change the load profile in the power grid by suppressing production from conventional generators. This paper aims to propose a framework to study the impact of utility-scale solar PV deployment on the generation resource allocation and investigate the economics and policy of electricity generation and carbon emissions. The investigation is carried on the generation resource pool of the southeast region of the U.S augmented by a substantial amount of utility-scale solar generation.
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    Contextual Challenges in using DERs to Advance Remote Electrification
    ( 2022-01-04) Chattopadhyay, Abhiroop ; Witmer, Ann-Perry ; Sauer, Peter
    This paper describes some non-technical challenges of utilizing Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to achieve electrification in remote rural regions that fall outside the reach of the conventional utility grid. These non-technical challenges stem partly from the inability to utilize economies of scale, but are also related to place-based contexts of the communities that these systems are designed to serve. This paper provides some insights from a case study of DER usage for electrification in the Navajo Nation (NN) and the challenges that are involved. It describes through this illustrative case study why technology solutions and long-term policy initiatives and support – explicitly crafted using knowledge of place and people – are necessary to advance electrification goals in rural and under-served communities.
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    Approximate Chance-Constrained Unit Commitment Under Wind Energy Penetration
    ( 2022-01-04) Zephyr, Luckny ; Guo, Ge ; Wang, Zongjie ; Morillo, Jose
    We study a multi-period unit commitment problem under wind energy penetration, in which the load balance is enforced with a predefined confidence level across the whole system and over the planning horizon. Since, except for special cases, chance-constrained problems are non-convex, we analyze two relaxations of the load balance based upon robust optimization ideas and estimated quantiles of the marginal distributions of the net load processes. The approximation proposals are benchmarked against the well-known scenario approximation. Under the scenario approach, we also analyze a simple decomposition strategy to find a lower bound of the approximate problem, when the latter becomes intractable due the size of the set of scenarios. The reliability of the obtained solutions as well as their runtimes are examined on three widespread test systems.
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    A Generic Primary-control Model for Grid-forming Inverters: Towards Interoperable Operation & Control
    ( 2022-01-04) Johnson, Brian ; Roberts, T. G. ; Ajala, Olaoluwapo ; Dominguez-Garcia, Alejandro ; Dhople, Sairaj ; Ramasubramanian, Deepak ; Tuohy, Aidan ; Divan, Deepak ; Kroposki, Benjamin
    This paper outlines an architectural vision centered around the notion of interoperability to integrate grid-forming inverter-based resources in large-scale grids. With the underlying principle of interoperability guiding developments, we focus on modeling the characteristics of droop, virtual synchronous machine, and virtual oscillator controls. Emphasis is placed on these three controllers since they are leading grid-forming control candidates and are likely to be commonplace as primary-control schemes in future systems. We show that these controllers can each be considered as instantiations of a more generic model and that all these controllers exhibit similar droop-like relations between pertinent terminal variables in steady state. This commonality between controllers gives interoperability among them such that automatic synchronization, power sharing, and voltage regulation can be achieved. Simulation results validate the models and demonstrate how the steady-state droop characteristics of these control methods can be aligned with the aid of the developed modeling paradigm.
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    A First Analysis of the Potential Impact of Climate Change on the Efficiency and Reliability of Solar and Hydro Energy Sources
    ( 2022-01-04) Newman, David ; Carreras, Benjamin ; Reynolds, Jose-Miguel ; Bhatt, U. S. ; Collet, P. ; Gomila, D.
    Climate change impacts our electric power system in several ways, affecting both the load and generation. Here we investigate one part of these impacts, the effect of climate change on the supply of renewable energy. Analyzing 60 years of data, climate change is found to impact both the total supply available and its variability. This impact is found to vary significantly with location. Here we focus on and compare two disparate locations, Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands and Cordova, Alaska. Using novel metrics, this analysis demonstrates the feasibility of a process to evaluate the changing needs for energy storage as well as the ability to evaluate the impact on grid reliability regarding both penetration of the increasing renewable resources and changes in the variability of the resource. This framework can be used to quantify the impact on both transmission grids and microgrids and can guide possible mitigation paths.
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