Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits
Improving the control of flexible assets in distribution grids, e.g., battery storages, electric vehicle charging points, and heat pumps, can balance power peaks caused by high renewable power generation or load to prevent overloading the grid infrastructure. Renewable energy communities, introduced...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/15/5468 |
| _version_ | 1797414115836166144 |
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| author | Robin Sudhoff Sebastian Schreck Sebastian Thiem Stefan Niessen |
| author_facet | Robin Sudhoff Sebastian Schreck Sebastian Thiem Stefan Niessen |
| author_sort | Robin Sudhoff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Improving the control of flexible assets in distribution grids, e.g., battery storages, electric vehicle charging points, and heat pumps, can balance power peaks caused by high renewable power generation or load to prevent overloading the grid infrastructure. Renewable energy communities, introduced as part of the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive, provide a regulatory framework for this. As a multi-site energy management method, they can tap flexibility potential. The present work quantifies stimulus for renewable energy communities to incentivize the grid-friendly operation of flexible assets, depending on the shares of participants in rural, suburban, and urban grid topologies. Results indicate that an operation of the community, driven by maximizing the economic benefits of its members, does not clearly reduce the annual peak load at the low-voltage substation, while the operation strategy of a grid-friendly renewable energy community achieves a peak power reduction of 23–55%. When there is not full participation, forecasts of the residual load of non-participants provided by the distribution system operator can be considered in the optimization of the renewable energy community. For all simulation cases, the economic benefit between the two operation strategies differs by less than one percent, resulting in a very low additional incentive required for grid-friendliness in terms of reduced peak power. Thus, grid-friendly renewable energy communities might be a cost-effective way to defer future grid reinforcements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:27:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f73fa73f7814e7b80aa823cca72d159 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:27:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f73fa73f7814e7b80aa823cca72d1592023-12-03T12:35:19ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-07-011515546810.3390/en15155468Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic BenefitsRobin Sudhoff0Sebastian Schreck1Sebastian Thiem2Stefan Niessen3Siemens AG, Technology, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, 91058 Erlangen, GermanySiemens AG, Technology, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, 91058 Erlangen, GermanySiemens AG, Technology, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, 91058 Erlangen, GermanySiemens AG, Technology, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyImproving the control of flexible assets in distribution grids, e.g., battery storages, electric vehicle charging points, and heat pumps, can balance power peaks caused by high renewable power generation or load to prevent overloading the grid infrastructure. Renewable energy communities, introduced as part of the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive, provide a regulatory framework for this. As a multi-site energy management method, they can tap flexibility potential. The present work quantifies stimulus for renewable energy communities to incentivize the grid-friendly operation of flexible assets, depending on the shares of participants in rural, suburban, and urban grid topologies. Results indicate that an operation of the community, driven by maximizing the economic benefits of its members, does not clearly reduce the annual peak load at the low-voltage substation, while the operation strategy of a grid-friendly renewable energy community achieves a peak power reduction of 23–55%. When there is not full participation, forecasts of the residual load of non-participants provided by the distribution system operator can be considered in the optimization of the renewable energy community. For all simulation cases, the economic benefit between the two operation strategies differs by less than one percent, resulting in a very low additional incentive required for grid-friendliness in terms of reduced peak power. Thus, grid-friendly renewable energy communities might be a cost-effective way to defer future grid reinforcements.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/15/5468renewable energy communitiesenergy communitiesprosumersdistribution system operatorgrid-friendlinessenergy management |
| spellingShingle | Robin Sudhoff Sebastian Schreck Sebastian Thiem Stefan Niessen Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits Energies renewable energy communities energy communities prosumers distribution system operator grid-friendliness energy management |
| title | Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits |
| title_full | Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits |
| title_fullStr | Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits |
| title_full_unstemmed | Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits |
| title_short | Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits |
| title_sort | operating renewable energy communities to reduce power peaks in the distribution grid an analysis on grid friendliness different shares of participants and economic benefits |
| topic | renewable energy communities energy communities prosumers distribution system operator grid-friendliness energy management |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/15/5468 |
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