Flexible Load Participation in Peaking Shaving and Valley Filling Based on Dynamic Price Incentives

Considering the widening of the peak-valley difference in the power grid and the difficulty of the existing fixed time-of-use electricity price mechanism in meeting the energy demand of heterogeneous users at various moments or motivating users,the design of a reasonable dynamic pricing mechanism to actively engage users in demand response becomes imperative for power grid companies.For this purpose,a power grid-flexible load bilevel model is constructed based on dynamic pricing,where the leader is the dispatching center and the lower-level flexible load acts as the follower.Initially,an upper-level day-ahead dispatching model for the power grid is established,considering the lowest power grid dispatching cost as the objective function and incorporating the power grid-side constraints.Then,the lower level comprehensively considers the load characteristics of industrial load,energy storage,and data centers,and then establishes a lower-level flexible load operation model with the lowest user power-consuming cost as the objective function.Finally,the proposed method is validated using the IEEE-118 system,and the findings indicate that the dynamic pricing mechanism for peaking shaving and valley filling can effectively guide users to respond actively,thereby reducing the peak-valley difference and decreasing users’purchasing costs.

Battery electric buses charging schedule optimization considering time-of-use electricity price

Purpose–This paper aims to optimize the charging schedule for battery electric buses(BEBs)to minimize the charging cost considering the time-ofuse electricity price.Design/methodology/approach–The BEBs charging schedule optimization problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model.The objective is to minimize the total charging cost of the BEB fleet.The charge decision of each BEB at the end of each trip is to be determined.Two types of constraints are adopted to ensure that the charging schedule meets the operational requirements of the BEB fleet and that the number of charging piles can meet the demand of the charging schedule.Findings–This paper conducts numerical cases to validate the effect of the proposed model based on the actual timetable and charging data of a bus line.The results show that the total charge cost with the optimized charging schedule is 15.56%lower than the actual total charge cost under given conditions.The results also suggest that increasing the number of charging piles can reduce the charging cost to some extent,which can provide a reference for planning the number of charging piles.Originality/value–Considering time-of-use electricity price in the BEBs charging schedule will not only reduce the operation cost of electric transit but also make the best use of electricity resources.

Power Optimization Strategy Considering Electric Vehicle in Home Energy Management System

With the development of smart grid, residents have the opportunity to schedule their household appliances （HA） for the purpose of reducing electricity expenses and alleviating the pressure of the smart grid. In this paper, we introduce the structure of home energy management system （EMS） and then propose a power optimization strategy based on household load model and electric vehicle （EV） model for home power usage. In this strategy, the electric vehicles are charged when the price is low, and otherwise, are discharged. By adopting this combined system model under the time-of-use electricity price （TOUP）, the proposed scheduling strategy would effectively minimize the electricity cost and reduce the pressure of the smart grid at the same time. Finally, simulation experiments are carried out to show the feasibility of the proposed strategy. The results show that crossover genetic particle swarm optimization algorithm has better convergence properties than traditional particle swarm algorithm and better adaptability than genetic algorithm.

Virtual electricity retailer for residents under single electricity pricing environment

Various residential electricity pricing strategies provide diverse methods for calculating consumption costs.Due to the existence of electricity company monopolies and single residential electricity pricing systems, residents of certain areas have no option but to accept the electricity pricing offered to them. Based on local residential electricity pricing strategies, a virtual electricity retailer(VER) mechanism is put forward. The proposed VER mechanism includes a pricing package plan(PPP), a consumption-based plan, an add-on plan, and an exclusive plan. A PPP optimization pricing model was established to maximize VER profits when taking into account income, allowances from sponsors, expenditures and customer savings. Finally, payment processes were designed under a fixed pricing system and a time-of-use pricing environment. This case study shows the impact of PPPs and the allowance and demonstrates that the model helps customers save electricity while maximizing VER profits.

Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Charging Scheduling for Household Electric Vehicles in Active Distribution Network

With the booming of electric vehicles(EVs) across the world, their increasing charging demands pose challenges to urban distribution networks. Particularly, due to the further implementation of time-of-use prices, the charging behaviors of household EVs are concentrated on low-cost periods, thus generating new load peaks and affecting the secure operation of the medium-and low-voltage grids. This problem is particularly acute in many old communities with relatively poor electricity infrastructure. In this paper, a novel two-stage charging scheduling scheme based on deep reinforcement learning is proposed to improve the power quality and achieve optimal charging scheduling of household EVs simultaneously in active distribution network(ADN) during valley period. In the first stage, the optimal charging profiles of charging stations are determined by solving the optimal power flow with the objective of eliminating peak-valley load differences. In the second stage, an intelligent agent based on proximal policy optimization algorithm is developed to dispatch the household EVs sequentially within the low-cost period considering their discrete nature of arrival. Through powerful approximation of neural network, the challenge of imperfect knowledge is tackled effectively during the charging scheduling process. Finally, numerical results demonstrate that the proposed scheme exhibits great improvement in relieving peak-valley differences as well as improving voltage quality in the ADN.

An optimization strategy of controlled electric vehicle charging considering demand side response and regional wind and photovoltaic

Renewable energy,such as wind and photovoltaic(PV),produces intermittent and variable power output.When superimposed on the load curve,it transforms the load curve into a‘load belt’,i.e.a range.Furthermore,the large scale development of electric vehicle(EV)will also have a significant impact on power grid in general and load characteristics in particular.This paper aims to develop a controlled EV charging strategy to optimize the peak-valley difference of the grid when considering the regional wind and PV power outputs.The probabilistic model of wind and PV power outputs is developed.Based on the probabilistic model,the method of assessing the peak-valley difference of the stochastic load curve is put forward,and a two-stage peak-valley price model is built for controlled EV charging.On this basis,an optimization model is built,in which genetic algorithms are used to determine the start and end time of the valley price,as well as the peak-valley price.Finally,the effectiveness and rationality of the method are proved by the calculation result of the example.

Economic Optimization Dispatching Strategy of Microgrid for Promoting Photoelectric Consumption Considering Cogeneration and Demand Response

A system combining photovoltaic power generation and cogeneration is proposed to improve the photoelectric absorption capacity. First, a time-of-use price strategy is adopted to guide users to change their electricity consumption habits for participation in the demand response, and a demand response model is established. Then, particle swarm optimization(PSO)is used with the aim of minimizing the operation cost of the microgrid to achieve economic dispatching of the microgrid. This considers power balance equation constraints, unit operation constraints, energy storage constraints, and heat storage constraints. Finally, the simulation results show the improved level of photoelectric consumption using the proposed scheme and the economic benefits of the microgrid.