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Power system flexibility is seen as a key for addressing the management challenges in the future smart grids. Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) can provide the necessary flexibility to: a) maintain a stable frequency and a secure energy supply in an overall system perspective, and b) maintain bus voltages and secure transfer capacities in their local networks. In this context, Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs) facilitate the management of the transmission and the distribution network, while at the same time they optimally exploit their DERs. This work proposes a bilevel model for an FSP owning distributed Battery Storage Units and participating in: i) wholesale Energy, Reserve and Balancing Markets, and ii) a novel distribution-level Flexibility Market. The developed model is applied to the IEEE 33-bus radial distribution system and the results demonstrate that it achieves superlinear gains. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of several externalities on the FSP's decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern mixed-integer quadratic solvers generally handle binary variables more efficiently than nonlinear mixed-integer solvers. This is relevant to the power system operation models as the unit commitment formulations typically contain a large number of binary variables. This paper investigates how to achieve the accuracy level close to the one of the exact nonlinear models, but by utilising convex models and solvers. The presented unit commitment model is based on a Taylor-series expansion where both the voltage magnitude and angle are quadratically constrained. To achieve high accuracy, the model takes advantage of the meshed transmission network structure that enables replacement of the quadratic inequality constraints that cause constraint relaxation errors with the linear equality constraints. Quadratic constraints to be replaced as well as the operating point parameters are determined based on the presolve. The first presented case study validates the model's accuracy and the convergence of the iterative algorithm, while the second is a non-iterative full unit commitment problem. Unit commitment results show superior accuracy and similar computation times to the existing quadratic formulations on one hand and faster computation times than the exact nonlinear polar formulation on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery swapping stations (BSSs) have a potential of becoming a part of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure mix. A number of aggregated BSSs have a significant capacity and can act as strategic players in electricity market. This paper formulates a discrete cluster model for optimal operation of aggregated BSSs that take part in the day-ahead energy and reserve capacity markets and have sufficient combined capacity to affect market prices. In the presented bilevel structure the upper-level problem optimally defines charging and discharging schedules, as well as reserve capacity, of the aggregated BSSs, while the lower-level problem clears the market and provides locational marginal prices for each BSS, as well as the reserve capacity prices. This problem is converted into a single-level equivalent using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions. The presented case study reveals that BSSs can collect significant revenues when providing reserve capacity. The main benefit of the proposed cluster model is computational tractability and solution accuracy, which depends on the resolution of the clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed transmission-scale energy storage is becoming economically feasible due to the growing share of renewable generation and cost reduction of specific storage technologies, primarily batteries. Under these circumstances, independent merchants may start investing in storage facilities. On the other hand, system operators, besides investing in transmission lines, may, under certain conditions, invest in storage units as well. This paper formulates a trilevel model where the upper-level problem optimizes the system operator's transmission line and energy storage investments, the middle-level problem determines merchant energy storage investment decisions, while the lower level problem simulates market clearing process for representative days. After replacing the lower level problem with its primal dual equivalent conditions, the middle- and lower level problems are merged into a mixed-integer problem with equilibrium constraints. The resulting bilevel structure is iteratively solved using a cutting plane algorithm. The proposed formulation is first applied to a six-bus system to present the mechanics of the model and then to the IEEE RTS-96 test system. The results show that even at the low cost of energy storage, the system operator (SO) still prefers line investments, while merchant investments are driven by the volatility of LMPs. Both the SO and merchant investments increase the social welfare, although this increase is mostly driven by the SO investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventive security-constrained optimal power flow (PSCOPF) dispatches controllable generators at minimum cost while ensuring that the system adheres to all operating constraints. All the transmission and generation limits are respected during both the pre- and post-contingency states without relying on post-contingency redispatch. Therefore, all credible generation contingencies should be modeled in PSCOPF and the system-wide automatic primary response should be allocated accordingly among synchronized generators by adjusting their droop coefficients. This paper proposes a new PSCOPF model that optimizes the droop coefficients of the synchronized generators. The cost savings attained with the proposed approach and its computational performance are evaluated. Different wind penetration levels and reserve policies are tested using annual simulations on the one- and three-area IEEE Reliability Test System. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Energy storage (ES) is a pivotal technology for dealing with the challenges caused by the integration of renewable energy sources. It is expected that a decrease in the capital cost of storage will eventually spur the deployment of large amounts of ES. These devices will provide transmission services, such as spatiotemporal energy arbitrage, i.e., storing surplus energy from intermittent renewable sources for later use by loads while reducing the congestion in the transmission network. This paper proposes a bilevel program that determines the optimal location and size of storage devices to perform this spatiotemporal energy arbitrage. This method aims to simultaneously reduce the system-wide operating cost and the cost of investments in ES while ensuring that merchant storage devices collect sufficient profits to fully recover their investment cost. The usefulness of the proposed method is illustrated using a representative case study of the ISO New England system with a prospective wind generation portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale integration of wind farms causes volatile bus net injections. Although these fluctuations are anticipated, their timing, magnitude and duration cannot be predicted accurately. In order to maintain the operational reliability of the system, this uncertainty must be adequately addressed at the day-ahead generation scheduling stage. The ad-hoc reserve rules incorporated in deterministic unit commitment formulations do not adequately account for this uncertainty. Scenario-based stochastic unit commitment formulations model this uncertainty more precisely, but require computationally demanding simulations. Interval and robust optimization techniques require less computing resources, but produce overly conservative and thus expensive generation schedules. This paper proposes a transmission-constrained unit commitment formulation that improves the performance of the interval unit commitment. The uncertainty is modeled using upper and lower bounds, as in the interval formulation, but inter-hour ramp requirements are based on net load scenarios. This improved interval formulation has been tested using the IEEE RTS-96 and compared with existing stochastic, interval and robust unit commitment techniques in terms of solution robustness and cost. These results show that the proposed method outperforms the existing interval technique both in terms of cost and computing time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We introduce emerging utility-scale energy storage (e.g., batteries) as part of the set of control measures in a corrective form of the security-constrained unit commitment (SCUC) problem. This enhanced SCUC (ESCUC) leverages utility-scale energy storage for multiple applications. In the base case, the storage units are optimally charged and discharged to realize economic operation. Immediately following a contingency, the injections of storage units are adjusted almost instantly to alleviate short-term emergency overloads, thereby avoiding potential cascading outages and giving slow ramping generating units time to adjust their output. The ESCUC is a large two-stage mixed-integer programming problem. A Benders decomposition has been developed to solve this problem. In order to achieve computational tractability, we present several acceleration techniques to improve the convergence of the proposed algorithm. Case studies on the RTS-79 and RTS-96 systems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy storage can alleviate the problems that the uncertainty and variability associated with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar create in power systems. Besides applications such as frequency control, temporal arbitrage or the provision of reserve, where the location of storage is not particularly relevant, distributed storage could also be used to alleviate congestion in the transmission network. In such cases, the siting and sizing of this distributed storage is of crucial importance to its cost-effectiveness. This paper describes a three-stage planning procedure to identify the optimal locations and parameters of distributed storage units. In the first stage, the optimal storage locations and parameters are determined for each day of the year individually. In the second stage, a number of storage units is available at the locations that were identified as being optimal in the first stage, and their optimal energy and power ratings are determined. Finally, in the third stage, with both the locations and ratings fixed, the optimal operation of the storage units is simulated to quantify the benefits that they would provide by reducing congestion. The quality of the final solution is assessed by comparing it with the solution obtained at the first stage without constraints on storage sites or size. The approach is numerically tested on the IEEE RTS 96. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new transmission-constrained unit commitment method that combines the cost-efficient but computationally demanding stochastic optimization and the expensive but tractable interval optimization techniques to manage uncertainty on the expected net load. The proposed hybrid unit commitment approach applies the stochastic formulation to the initial operating hours of the optimization horizon, during which the wind forecasts are more accurate, and then switches to the interval formulation for the remaining hours. The switching time is optimized to balance the cost of unhedged uncertainty from the stochastic unit commitment against the cost of the security premium of the interval unit commitment formulation. These hybrid, stochastic, and interval formulations are compared using Monte Carlo simulations on a modified 24-bus IEEE Reliability Test System. The results demonstrate that the proposed unit commitment formulation results in the least expensive day-ahead schedule among all formulations and can be solved in the same amount of time as a full stochastic unit commitment. However, if the range of the switching time is reduced, the hybrid formulation in the parallel computing implementation outperforms the stochastic formulation in terms of computing time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the development of a modern power system laboratory within a Bologna Declaration compliant curriculum at the Department of Energy and Power Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb. The paper describes laboratory components and provides insight into the experiments that students are required to perform. The laboratory course is divided into three major components: power system simulations, computer simulations and high voltage. Power system simulations are performed on a miniature real-world power system that can be synchronized to the actual power system. Computer simulations are performed both on commercially available software solutions commonly used by power utilities and consulting companies, and on software tools developed at the Department of Energy and Power Systems. High voltage exercises are performed in the High Voltage Laboratory, where students are familiarized with high voltage phenomena. Results of student questionnaires collected over the previous four years are analyzed. This feedback, together with industry experts' observations and suggestions, provides the basis for improvements that are constantly introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the yearly maintenance scheduling of generating units within a market environment. Each producer schedules its units' maintenance periods to maximize its revenue using a bilevel approach. The upper-level problem of this bilevel model seeks maximum revenue and contains unit scheduling constraints, while the lower-level problems represent the market clearing process under different operating conditions. This single producer maintenance problem can be recast as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC). Since the MPECs of all producers have to be considered simultaneously and the market clearing process is common to all of them, the proposed formulation for maintenance scheduling is an equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints (EPEC) corresponding to a multiple-leader-common-follower game. The solution of this EPEC is a set of equilibria, in which none of the producers is able to increase its revenue unilaterally by changing the maintenance periods of its generating units. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within a yearly horizon, a transmission system operator needs to schedule the maintenance outages of the set of transmission lines due for maintenance. Facing this task, two conflicting objectives arise: on one hand, the transmission system adequacy should be preserved as much as possible, and, on the other hand, market operation should be altered in the least possible manner. To address this scheduling problem, a bilevel model is proposed whose upper-level problem schedules line maintenance outages pursuing maximum transmission capacity margin. This upper-level problem is constrained by a set of lower-level problems that represent the clearing of the market for all the time periods considered within the yearly planning horizon. This bilevel model is conveniently converted into a nonlinear mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) that can be recast as a mixed-integer linear programming problem solvable with currently available branch-and-cut techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]