Minimising Unserved Energy Using Heterogeneous Storage Units

TL;DR

This paper introduces a no-future-knowledge policy for optimally dispatching heterogeneous energy storage units to minimize unserved energy during supply shortfalls, applicable in system adequacy assessments and simulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel, future-agnostic dispatch policy for heterogeneous storage units, with a graphical tool for quick shortfall assessment and discrete-time formulations for system studies.

Findings

Policy effectively minimizes unserved energy during supply shortfalls.

Graphical method enables rapid assessment of unavoidable energy shortfalls.

Application demonstrated through a generation adequacy study of the British system.

Abstract

This paper considers the optimal dispatch of energy-constrained heterogeneous storage units to maximise security of supply. A policy, requiring no knowledge of the future, is presented and shown to minimise unserved energy during supply-shortfall events, regardless of the supply and demand profiles. It is accompanied by a graphical means to rapidly determine unavoidable energy shortfalls, which can then be used to compare different device fleets. The policy is well-suited for use within the framework of system adequacy assessment; for this purpose, a discrete time optimal policy is conceived, in both analytic and algorithmic forms, such that these results can be applied to discrete time systems and simulation studies. This is exemplified via a generation adequacy study of the British system.