New resource mix, e.g., renewable resources, are imposing operational complexities to modern power systems by intensifying uncertainty and variability in the system net load. This issue has motivated independent system operators (ISOs), e.g., California ISO (CAISO), to add the flexible ramping product (FRP) to their day-ahead (DA) market models. Such structural changes in the DA market formulation require further analyses and detailed design to ensure adequate operational flexibility, market efficiency, and reliability. This paper conducts a comprehensive study to: (a) augment existing DA market models with enhanced FRP design in order to schedule ramp capabilities that are more adaptive with respect to the real-time (RT) condition, and (b) design corresponding market payment policies that accurately reflect the value of the added flexibility through enhanced FRP design. The proposed FRP design can be implemented in present-day system operations with minimal disruption to existing DA market models. Performance of the proposed DA market model, which includes the enhanced FRP design, is compared against the DA market model with existing FRP design through a validation methodology based on RT unit commitment model. This validation methodology mimics fifteen-minute market of CAISO. The proposed method is tested on an IEEE 118-bus test system.
This article puts forward a methodology for procuring flexible ramping products (FRPs) in the day-ahead market (DAM). The proposed methodology comprises two market passes, the first of which employs a stochastic unit commitment (SUC) model that explicitly evaluates the uncertainty and the intra-hourly and inter-hourly variability of net load so as to minimize the expected total operating cost. The second pass clears the DAM while imposing FRP requirements. The cornerstone of our work is to set the FRP requirements at levels that drive the DAM decisions toward the optimal SUC decisions. Our met…
In electricity networks with high penetration levels of renewable resources, Flexible Ramping Products (FRPs) are among the utilized measures for dealing with the potential fluctuations in the net demand. This paper investigates the impacts of FRPs on the operation of interdependent electricity and natural gas networks. To accurately model and reflect the effects of variations in the natural gas fuel demand on the natural gas network, a dynamic Optimal Gas Flow (OGF) formulation is utilized. The non-convex dynamic model of the natural gas system is represented in a convex form via a tight rela…
The curtailment of renewable energy is more frequently observed as the renewable penetration levels are rising rapidly in modern power systems. It is a waste of free and green renewable energy and implies current power grids are unable to accommodate more renewable sources. One major reason is that higher power transmission capacity is required for higher renewable penetration level. Another major reason is the volatility of the renewable generation. The hydrogen mix or pure hydrogen pipeline can both transfer and store the energy in the form of hydrogen. However, its potential of accelerating…
Grid-aware Scheduling and Control of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for Dispatching Active Distribution Networks. Part-I: Day-ahead and Numerical Validation
Hierarchical microgrid control levels range from distributed device level controllers that run at a high frequency to centralized controllers optimizing market integration that run much less frequently. Centralized controllers are often subdivided into operational planning controllers that optimize decisions over a time horizon of one or several days, and real-time optimization controllers that deal with actions in the current market period. The coordination of these levels is of paramount importance. In this paper, we propose a value function-based approach as a way to propagate information f…
Power system components, particularly electrical substations, may be severely damaged due to flooding, resulting in prolonged power outages and resilience degradation. This problem is more severe in low-elevated regions such as Louisiana. Protective operational actions such as placing tiger dams around substations before flooding can reduce substation vulnerability, damage costs, and energy not supplied cost, thus enhancing power grid resilience. This paper proposes a stochastic mixed-integer programming model for protecting transmission substations one day before flood events using tiger dams…
This work presents an optimization framework to aggregate the power and energy flexibilities in an interconnected power distribution systems. The aggregation framework is used to compute the day-ahead dispatch plans of multiple and interconnected distribution grids operating at different voltage levels. Specifically, the proposed framework optimizes the dispatch plan of an upstream medium voltage (MV) grid accounting for the flexibility offered by downstream low voltage (LV) grids and the knowledge of the uncertainties of the stochastic resources. The framework considers grid, i.e., operationa…
The large penetration of renewable resources has resulted in rapidly changing net loads, resulting in the characteristic "duck curve". The resulting ramping requirements of bulk system resources is an operational challenge. To address this, we propose a distributed optimization framework within which distributed resources located in the distribution grid are coordinated to provide support to the bulk system. We model the power flow of the multi-phase unbalanced distribution grid using a Current Injection (CI) approach, which leverages McCormick Envelope based convex relaxation to render a line…
In this paper, we propose a two-stage electricity market framework to explore the participation of distributed energy resources (DERs) in a day-ahead (DA) market and a real-time (RT) market. The objective is to determine the optimal bidding strategies of the aggregated DERs in the DA market and generate online incentive signals for DER-owners to optimize the social welfare taking into account network operational constraints. Distributionally robust optimization is used to explicitly incorporate data-based statistical information of renewable forecasts into the supply/demand decisions in the DA…
The power grid is undergoing significant restructuring driven by the adoption of wind/solar power and the incorporation of new flexible technologies that can shift load in space and time (e.g., data centers, battery storage, and modular manufacturing). Load shifting is needed to mitigate space-time fluctuations associated with wind/solar power and other disruptions (e.g., extreme weather). The impact of load shifting on electricity markets is typically quantified via sensitivity analysis, which aims to assess impacts in terms of price volatility and total welfare. This sensitivity approach doe…
The ongoing transition to renewable energy is increasing the share of fluctuating power sources like wind and solar, raising power grid volatility and making grid operation increasingly complex and costly. In our prior work, we have introduced a congestion management approach consisting of a redispatching optimizer combined with a machine learning-based topology optimization agent. Compared to a typical redispatching-only agent, it was able to keep a simulated grid in operation longer while at the same time reducing operational cost. Our approach also ranked 1st in the L2RPN 2022 competition i…
Grid-aware Scheduling and Control of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for Dispatching Active Distribution Networks. Part-II: Intra-day and Experimental Validation
How flexible do we need to be? Using electricity systems models to identify optimal designs for flexible carbon capture storage system for gas-fired power plants