Scheduling and Operation of Virtual Power Plants: Technical Challenges and Electricity Markets provides a multidisciplinary perspective on recent advances in VPPs, ranging from required infrastructures and planning to operation and control. The work details the required components in a virtual power plant, including smartness of power system, instrument and information and communication technologies (ICTs), measurement units, and distributed energy sources. Contributors assess the proposed benefits of virtual power plant in solving problems of distributed energy sources in integrating the small, distributed and intermittent output of these units. In addition, they investigate the likely technical challenges regarding control and interaction with other entities. Finally, the work considers the role of VPPs in electricity markets, showing how distributed energy resources and demand response providers can integrate their resources through virtual power plant concepts to effectively participate in electricity markets to solve the issues of small capacity and intermittency. The work is suitable for experienced engineers, researchers, managers and policymakers interested in using VPPs in future smart grids. Explores key enabling technologies and infrastructures for virtual power plants in future smart energy systems Reviews technical challenges and introduces solutions to the operation and control of VPPs, particularly focusing on control and interaction with other power system entities Introduces the key integrating role of VPPs in enabling DER powered participative electricity markets

This textbook provides a detailed analysis of operation and planning problems faced by virtual power plants participating in different electricity markets. The chapters address in-depth, topics such as: optimization, market power, expansion, and modelling uncertainty in operation and planning problems of virtual power plants. The book provides an up-to-date description of decision-making tools to address challenging questions faced by virtual power plants such as: How can virtual power plants optimize their participation in electricity markets? How can a virtual power plant exercise market power? How can virtual power plants be optimally expanded? How can uncertainty be efficiently modelled in the operation and planning problems of virtual power plants? The book is written in a tutorial style and modular format, and includes many illustrative examples to facilitate comprehension. It is intended for a diverse audience including advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of electric energy systems, operations research, and economics. Practitioners in the energy sector will also benefit from the concepts and techniques presented in this book. In particular, this book: Provides students with the GAMS codes to solve the examples in the book; Provides a basis for the formulation of decision-making problems under uncertainty; Contains a blend of theoretical concepts and practical applications that are developed as working algorithms.

This book provides a general overview of virtual power plants (VPP) as a key technology in future energy communities and active distribution and transmission networks for managing distributed energy resources, providing local and global services, and facilitating market participation of small-scale managing distributed energy resources and prosumers. The book also aims at describing some practical solutions, business models, and novel architectures for the implementation of VPPs in the real world. Each chapter of the book begins with the fundamental structure of the problem required for a rudimentary understanding of the methods described. It provides a clear picture for practical implementation of VPP through novel technologies such as blockchain, digital twin, and distributed ledger technology. The book will help the electrical and power engineers, undergraduate, graduate students, research scholars, and utility engineers to understand the emerging solutions regarding the VPP concept lucidly.

Local Electricity Markets introduces the fundamental characteristics, needs, and constraints shaping the design and implementation of local electricity markets. It addresses current proposed local market models and lessons from their limited practical implementation. The work discusses relevant decision and informatics tools considered important in the implementation of local electricity markets. It also includes a review on management and trading platforms, including commercially available tools. Aspects of local electricity market infrastructure are identified and discussed, including physical and software infrastructure. It discusses the current regulatory frameworks available for local electricity market development internationally. The work concludes with a discussion of barriers and opportunities for local electricity markets in the future. Delineates key components shaping the design and implementation of local electricity market structure Provides a coherent view on the enabling infrastructures and technologies that underpin local market expansion Explores the current regulatory environment for local electricity markets drawn from a global panel of contributors Exposes future paths toward widespread implementation of local electricity markets using an empirical review of barriers and opportunities Reviews relevant local electricity market case studies, pilots and demonstrators already deployed and under implementation

This book analyzes new electricity pricing models that consider uncertainties in the power market due to the changing behavior of market players and the implementation of renewable distributed generation and responsive loads. In-depth chapters examine the different types of market players including the generation, transmission, and distribution companies, virtual power plants, demand response aggregators, and energy hubs and microgrids. Expert authors propose optimal operational models for short-term performance and scheduling and present readers with solutions for pricing challenges in uncertain environments. This book is useful for engineers, researchers and students involved in integrating demand response programs into smart grids and for electricity market operation and planning. Proposes optimal operation models; Discusses the various players in today's electricity markets; Describes the effects of demand response programs in smart grids.

With increasing penetration of intermittent resources such as wind and solar, power system operations are facing much more challenges in cost effective provision of energy balancing and frequency regulation services. Enabled by advances in sensing, control and communication, the concept of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is proposed as one possible solution which aggregates and firms up spatially distributed resources' net power injection to the system. This thesis proposes a coordinated control and bidding strategy for VPPs to provide energy balancing and grid frequency regulation services in electricity market environment. In this thesis, the VPP consists of two energy conversion assets: a Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG)-based wind farm and a co-located Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS). The coordination of the VPP is implemented through power electronics-based controllers. A five-bus system test case demonstrates the technical feasibility of VPPs to respond to grid frequency deviation as well as to follow energy dispatch signals. To enable the participation of VPPs in electricity market, this thesis also proposes an optimization based bidding strategy for VPPs in both energy balancing and frequency regulation service markets. The potential economic benefits of this bidding strategy are demonstrated under Denmark wholesale electricity market structure. Four case studies show the economic benefit of coordinating VPPs.

Future distribution networks are expected to host high concentrations of distributed energy resources (DER) which include distributed generation, renewable energy sources, local storage systems and flexible loads. This book introduces a DER aggregation system (DERAS) that incorporates DER in the power system in an efficient and cost-effective manner. DERAS is developed based on the concept of the virtual power plant to facilitate the collective participation of the DER owners in the wholesale electricity market. The commercial interests of its stakeholders are incorporated in a trade subsystem that employs artificial neural networks to forecast the contribution of the aggregated DER population. Moreover, through the balancing and network support subsystems DERAS helps system and network operators to postpone or prevent excessive expenditures needed for network expansions or reinforcements. This book involves Systems Engineering to develop a scalable DERAS that fits in either competitively unbundled or traditionally consolidated electricity markets. Moreover, it presents an active network planning method that facilitates the development of Smart Grids.