Low carbon oriented collaborative energy management framework for multi-microgrid aggregated virtual power plant considering electricity trading

In the context of China's dual‑carbon goals and electricity market reforms, the high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) in a single microgrid (MG) imposes challenges to its flexible operation. This paper addresses the cooperation within a virtual power plant (VPP) aggregated by multiple MGs. The VPP, managed by the VPP operator, acts as an intermediate entity to facilitate MGs' economic and low-carbon operation. To ensure the interests of various stakeholders in the VPP, this work proposes a low carbon oriented tri-stage collaborative energy management framework. In the 1st stage, the day-ahead optimal scheduling of individual MGs and the bidding strategy of the VPP operator are modeled, where an internal pricing method is incorporated. The 2nd stage addresses the real-time redispatch of the VPP operator using a receding horizon-based model predictive control (MPC) solution. This aims to satisfy the real-time operational requirements of MGs and reduce adjustment costs. Furthermore, in the 3rd stage, a penalty allocation mechanism is established for MGs based on their forecasting errors, to protect the VPP operator's interests. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is evaluated through comparative simulations in the context of the Guangdong electricity market.