Economic dispatch of generation load aggregators based on two-stage robust optimization

Introduction: In recent years, with the rapid development of renewable energy generation, the stability of the power grid has been greatly reduced. In response to this problem, integrating the user side transferable load into the power market has become the key to the development of future power grid. At present, large transferable loads have entered the electricity market in some pilot areas of China, but the relevant research on small and medium-sized transferable users entering the electricity market is still few.Methods: This paper proposes the concept of generation load aggregators. A two-stage generation load aggregator robust optimization model is developed to obtain the scheduling scheme with the lowest operating cost under the worst scenario. The model consists of distributed renewable power, transferable load, self-provided power, energy storage, etc. Uncertainties of renewable energy and load are introduced in the model. By using the column constraint generation algorithm and strong pairwise theory, the original problem is decomposed into the main problem and sub-problems to be solved alternately, so as to obtain the scheduling scheme with the lowest operating cost in the worst scenario under different conservatism.Results: The solved results are compared with those without the generation load aggregator, illustrating the role of the generation load aggregator in relieving peak and valley pressure on the grid from the load side, reducing the cost of electricity for loads, and promoting the consumption of renewable energy. The comparison with the deterministic optimization algorithm shows a significant decrease in the total cost and validates the performance of the selected solution algorithm. The boundary conditions for the use of energy storage by generation load aggregators for peak and valley reduction under the time-sharing tariff mechanism are also derived.Discussion: This study can provide reference for the investors of generation load aggregators when planning whether to install energy storage or the scale of energy storage, and also help the power market management department to design a reasonable incentive mechanism.

Automated summary

This paper proposes the concept of generation load aggregators and develops a robust optimization model to obtain the scheduling scheme with the lowest operating cost. The results show that generation load aggregators can relieve peak and valley pressure on the grid, reduce the cost of electricity for loads, and promote the consumption of renewable energy. The study also provides boundary conditions for the use of energy storage by generation load aggregators under the time-sharing tariff mechanism.