The value of storage in electricity distribution: The role of markets

Electricity distribution companies deploy battery storage to defer grid upgrades by reducing peak demand. In deregulated jurisdictions, such storage often sits idle because regulatory constraints bar participation in electricity markets. Here, we develop an optimization framework that, to our knowledge, provides the first formal model of market participation constraints within storage investment and operation planning. … Read more

Alternating Methods for Large-Scale AC Optimal Power Flow with Unit Commitment

Security-constrained unit commitment with alternating current optimal power flow (SCUC-ACOPF) is a central problem in power grid operations that optimizes commitment and dispatch of generators under a physically accurate power transmission model while encouraging robustness against component failures.  SCUC-ACOPF requires solving large-scale problems that involve multiple time periods and networks with thousands of buses within … Read more

Frequency regulation with storage: On losses and profits

Low-carbon societies will need to store vast amounts of electricity to balance intermittent generation from wind and solar energy, for example, through frequency regulation. Here, we derive an analytical solution to the decision-making problem of storage operators who sell frequency regulation power to grid operators and trade electricity on day-ahead markets. Mathematically, we treat future … Read more

Reliable Frequency Regulation through Vehicle-to-Grid: Encoding Legislation with Robust Constraints

Problem definition: Vehicle-to-grid increases the low utilization rate of privately owned electric vehicles by making their batteries available to electricity grids. We formulate a robust optimization problem that maximizes a vehicle owner’s expected profit from selling primary frequency regulation to the grid and guarantees that market commitments are met at all times for all frequency … Read more