Optimal Coordination of Flexible DERs in Local Energy and Flexibility Markets to Ensure Social Equity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a market-clearing framework that optimally manages distributed energy resources in local energy markets, emphasizing social equity by incorporating consumers' energy burden and ensuring fair trading during network disturbances.

Contribution

It presents a novel SOCP-based model that integrates social equity considerations into local energy market operations for DERs.

Findings

Framework ensures fair energy pricing considering consumer burden.

Model effectively manages flexible resources during unbalanced conditions.

Validated on IEEE 33-bus network demonstrating practical applicability.

Abstract

Local electricity markets offer a promising solution for integrating renewable energy sources and other distributed energy resources (DERs) into distribution networks. These markets enable the effective utilization of flexible resources by facilitating coordination among various agents. Beyond technical and economic considerations, addressing social equity within these local communities is critical and requires dedicated attention in market-clearing frameworks. This paper proposes a social equity-based market-clearing framework for the optimal management of DERs' energy and flexibility within local communities. The proposed framework incorporates consumers' energy burden to ensure fair pricing in energy market clearance. Furthermore, to ensure equity during unbalanced operating conditions, flexible resources are managed in the local flexibility market, ensuring that all participants can trade power fairly under network disturbances. The model is formulated as a second-order cone programming (SOCP) optimization and validated on the IEEE 33-bus test distribution network.