Distribution market as a ramping aggregator for grid flexibility support

TL;DR

This paper proposes a distribution market model where microgrids and distributed energy resources act as a flexibility resource to support grid ramping needs, enhancing system reliability.

Contribution

It introduces a novel distribution market scheduling model leveraging upstream ramping flexibility, integrating microgrids as a system-wide flexibility resource.

Findings

Model effectively utilizes microgrid flexibility for ramping support

Numerical simulations validate the model's effectiveness

Distribution network can significantly aid in system ramping requirements

Abstract

The growing proliferation of microgrids and distributed energy resources in distribution networks has resulted in the development of Distribution Market Operator (DMO). This new entity will facilitate the management of the distributed resources and their interactions with upstream network and the wholesale market. At the same time, DMOs can tap into the flexibility potential of these distributed resources to address many of the challenges that system operators are facing. This paper investigates this opportunity and develops a distribution market scheduling model based on upstream network ramping flexibility requirements. That is, the distribution network will play the role of a flexibility resource in the system, with a relatively large size and potential, to help bulk system operators to address emerging ramping concerns. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model on when tested on a distribution system with several microgrids.