Bjarne Poulsen

A market-based Virtual Power Plant

The fast growing penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and the continuing trend towards a more liberalized electricity market requires more efficient energy management strategies to handle both emerging technical and economic issues. In this paper, a market-based Virtual Power Plant (MBVPP) model is proposed which provides individual DER units the accesses to current electricity markets. General bidding scenario and price signal scenario as two optional operation scenarios are operated by one MBVPP. In the end, a use case of a MBVPP with micro Combined Heat and Power (µCHP) systems demonstrates the potential benefits and operation scenarios of the MBVPP model.

Electric vehicle fleet integration in the danish EDISON project - A virtual power plant on the island of Bornholm

The Danish EDISON project has been launched to investigate how a large fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) can be integrated in a way that supports the electric grid while benefitting both the individual car owners and society as a whole through reductions in CO2 emissions. The consortium partners include energy companies, technology suppliers and research laboratories and institutes. The aim is to perform a thorough investigation of the challenges and opportunities of EVs and then to deliver a technical platform that can be demonstrated on the Danish island of Bornholm. To reach this goal, a vast amount of research is done in various areas of EV technology by the partners. This paper will focus on the ICT-based distributed software integration, which plays a major role for the success of EDISON. Key solution technologies and standards that will accommodate communication and optimize the coordination of EVs will be described as well as the simulation work that will help to reach the goals of the project.

Evaluation of a Generic Virtual Power Plant framework using service oriented architecture

The purpose of this paper is to find and describe a suitable software framework that can be used to help implement the concept of a generic virtual power plant in the future power system. The generic virtual power plant concept, along with the utilization of distributed energy resources, has many interesting properties that can influence the future shape of power markets. The concept holds many promises including cheaper power to the consumer, a more flexible and responsive power production and the support of a more environment- friendly development. In order to realize a software solution supporting the generic virtual power plant, an array of different software design principles, patterns and architectures must be applied. Especially Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can aid in implementing the generic virtual power plant. An analysis of the Nordic power market has been carried out in order to identify potential issues and barriers, henceforth mentioned as challenges, connected with the introduction of the generic virtual power plant concept. In this paper, three use case scenarios will show how each of these challenges can be overcome by the proposed solution framework. The use case scenarios will be tested by a prototype that has been developed as proof of concept.

Facilitating a Generic Communication Interface to Distributed Energy Resources: Mapping IEC 61850 to RESTful Services

As the power system evolves into a smarter and more flexible state, so must the communication technologies that support it. A key requirement for facilitating the distributed production of future grids is that communication and information are standardized to ensure interoperability. The IEC 61850 standard, which was originally aimed at substation automation, has been expanded to cover the monitoring and control of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). By having a consistent and well- defined data model the standard enables a DER aggregator, such as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), in communicating with a broad array of DERs. If the data model of IEC 61850 is combined with a set of contemporary web protocols, it can result in a major shift in how DERs can be accessed and coordinated. This paper describes how IEC 61850 can benefit from the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) service concept and how a server using these technologies can be used to interface with DERs as diverse as Electric Vehicles (EVs) and micro Combined Heat and Power (µCHP) units.

Prediction and optimization methods for electric vehicle charging schedules in the EDISON project

Smart charging, where the charging of an electric vehicle battery is delayed or advanced in time based on energy costs, grid capacity or renewable contents, has a great potential for increasing the value of the electric vehicle to the owner, the grid and society as a whole. The Danish EDISON project has been launched to investigate various areas relevant to electric vehicle integration. As part of EDISON an electric vehicle aggregator has been developed to demonstrate smart charging of electric vehicles. The emphasis of this paper is the mathematical methods on which the EDISON aggregator is based. This includes an analysis of the problem of EV driving prediction and charging optimization, a description of the mathematical models implemented and an evaluation of the accuracy of such models. Finally, additional optimization considerations as well as possible future extensions will be explored. This paper hopes to contribute to the field of EV integration by coupling optimized EV charging coordination with the EV utilization predictions on which the former heavily relies.

Economic dispatch of electric energy storage with multi-service provision

This paper develops a generic optimization model that explores the difficulty met by Electric Energy Storage (EES) systems when economic dispatch for multiple-service provision is requested. Such a model is further used to investigate the economic performance of an EES system which meets the 10-minute balancing requirement and hourly load shifting opportunities in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) area for a 2030 load scenario. Piecewise linear equations are used to represent the cost function of varying load. The results show that when EES is economically dispatched, to achieve multiple value streams could result in more saving than to provide single service.

Is micro-CHP price controllable under price signal controlled Virtual Power Plants?

As micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems move towards mass deployment together with other kinds of distributed energy resources (DER), an increasing emphasis has been placed on how to coordinate such a large diversified DER portfolio in an efficient way by the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) like aggregators. Compared to the centralized direct control scheme, a decentralized control scheme “control-by-price” is proposed for the VPP operation. The corresponding scheme has advantages in scalability, transparency and simplicity. In this context, a short term economic analysis is conducted for three different micro-CHP systems to investigate the feasibility of being controlled by price. Such analysis is relevant for both controller designs for micro-CHP systems and VPP related operations. The results indicate that controlling the micro-CHP systems by price is feasible but could result in jumpy responses.

Utilizing a flexibility interface for distributed energy resources through a cloud-based service

With governments around the world pushing for an ever increasing shift towards renewable energy production, large numbers of controllable distributed energy resources are starting to appear. Already a multitude of proposed control solutions have seen the light of day, but most are focused solely on the control itself and not the more practical network- and data management issues that follows trying to handle such huge portfolios. This papers covers a cloud based solution to the aforementioned issues, greatly aiding aggregators scale to meet future demands. It also includes a flexibility interface that are currently being researched by iPower, that is mapped to the well tested standard of IEC 61850 as additional sub-nodes. By mapping to existing standards, no major changes would be needed to adapt existing systems.

Using Service Oriented Architecture in a Generic Virtual Power Plant

The purpose of this paper is to find and describe a suitable software framework that can be used to help implement the concept of a Generic Virtual Power Plant in the future power system. The Generic Virtual Power Plant concept, along with the utilization of distributed energy resources, has many interesting properties that can influence the future shape of power markets. The concept holds many promises including cheaper power to the consumer, a more flexible and responsive power production and the support of a more environment-friendly development. In order to realize a software solution supporting the Generic Virtual Power Plant, an array of different software design principles, patterns and architectures must be applied. Especially Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can aid in implementing the Generic Virtual Power Plant. An analysis of the Nordic power market has been carried out in order to identify potential issues and barriers, henceforth mentioned as challenges, connected with the introduction of the Generic Virtual Power Plant concept.

Integrating intelligent electric devices into Distributed Energy Resources in a cloud-based environment

Until now the main purpose of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) has been to compliment the power plants. However, if DERs are to play a larger role in the power grid of the future, then improved communication and cooperation between these resources and the system operators is necessary. Cooperation requires intelligence at the level of the DER as well as at the aggregator level, and in order to efficiently facilitate this, communication must be easily achievable. This project presents a proof-of-concept plug-and-play cloud solution for next generation DERs, built upon the IEC 61850[15] standard, that enable easy communication and cooperation between DERs and system operators.