Flexibility model of integrated energy sources for the strategic planning of Distribution Networks

Abstract

The evolution of the European energy sector towards a decarbonized economy will provide a new impulse to the renewable energy exploitation. The expected strong impact on the power system can be positively faced only with a huge amount of energy flexibility. Because a large share of this flexibility is potentially associated to a multitude of small energy resources sited on LV distribution networks, which can hardly contribute singularly to the system operation, aggregations of these resources, managed as single entities, will characterise the scenario of the future Smart Distribution Networks. The paper presents a flexibility model of this aggregation, with particular attention to the representation of Demand Response. Moreover, a simple optimization tool has been developed to show the potential benefits these energy resources aggregations can bring to solve network contingencies and whose a strategic planning of distribution networks has to take into account.