IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i12p2986-d1416653.html

Smart Operation Control of Power and Heat Demands in Active Distribution Grids Leveraging Energy Flexibility

Author

Listed:
  • Rakesh Sinha

    (Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark)

  • Sanjay K. Chaudhary

    (Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark)

  • Birgitte Bak-Jensen

    (Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark)

  • Hessam Golmohamadi

    (Department of Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark)

Abstract

Demand flexibility plays a crucial role in mitigating the intermittency of renewable power sources. This paper focuses on an active distribution grid that incorporates flexible heat and electric demands, specifically heat pumps (HPs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Additionally, it addresses photovoltaic (PV) power generation facilities and electrical batteries to enhance demand flexibility. To exploit demand flexibility from both heat and electric demand, along with the integration of PVs and batteries, Control and Communication Mechanisms (CCMs) are formulated. These CCMs integrate demand flexibility into the distribution grids to obtain economic benefits for private households and, at the same time, facilitate voltage control. Concerning EVs, the paper discusses voltage-based droop control, scheduled charging, priority charging, and up-/down-power regulation to optimize the charging and discharging operations. For heat demands, the on-off operation of the HPs integrated with phase change material (PCM) storage is optimized to unlock heat-to-power flexibility. The HP controllers aim to ensure as much self-consumption as possible and provide voltage support for the distribution grid while ensuring the thermal comfort of residents. Finally, the developed CCMs are implemented on a small and representative community of an active distribution grid with eight houses using Power Factory software and DIgSILENT simulation language (DSL). This scalable size of the active distribution network facilitates the careful study of symbiotic interaction among the flexible load, generation, and different houses thoroughly. The simulation results confirm that the integration of flexible demands into the grid using the designed CCMs results in the grid benefiting from stabilized voltage control, especially during peak demand hours.

Suggested Citation

  • Rakesh Sinha & Sanjay K. Chaudhary & Birgitte Bak-Jensen & Hessam Golmohamadi, 2024. "Smart Operation Control of Power and Heat Demands in Active Distribution Grids Leveraging Energy Flexibility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-28, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:12:p:2986-:d:1416653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/12/2986/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/12/2986/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. You, Zhengjie & Lumpp, Sebastian Dirk & Doepfert, Markus & Tzscheutschler, Peter & Goebel, Christoph, 2024. "Leveraging flexibility of residential heat pumps through local energy markets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    2. Zhu, Xianwen & Xia, Mingchao & Chiang, Hsiao-Dong, 2018. "Coordinated sectional droop charging control for EV aggregator enhancing frequency stability of microgrid with high penetration of renewable energy sources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 936-943.
    3. Rezaeimozafar, Mostafa & Duffy, Maeve & Monaghan, Rory F.D. & Barrett, Enda, 2024. "A hybrid heuristic-reinforcement learning-based real-time control model for residential behind-the-meter PV-battery systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    4. Golmohamadi, Hessam, 2022. "Demand-side management in industrial sector: A review of heavy industries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cagri Kutlu & Abdullah Dik & Mehmet Tahir Erdinc & Yuehong Su & Saffa Riffat, 2025. "Comparative Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Assisted Heat Pump Systems Coupled with PCM Storage and EV Charging with Reference to the UK’s National Carbon Intensity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Hanchi Zhang & Rakesh Sinha & Hessam Golmohamadi & Sanjay K. Chaudhary & Birgitte Bak-Jensen, 2025. "Autonomous Control of Electric Vehicles Using Voltage Droop," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-16, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tripathy, Prajukta & Jena, Pabitra Kumar & Mishra, Bikash Ranjan, 2024. "Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    2. Potthoff, Ugne & Brudermueller, Tobias & Hopf, Konstantin & Wortmann, Felix, 2025. "Optimization of heating curves for heat pumps in operation: Outdoor temperature ranges for energy-efficient heating curve shifts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    3. Caixin Yan & Zhifeng Qiu, 2025. "Review of Power Market Optimization Strategies Based on Industrial Load Flexibility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-41, March.
    4. Nargunadevi Thangavel Sampathkumar & Anbuselvi Shanmugam Velu & Brinda Rajasekaran & Kumudini Devi Raguru Pandu, 2025. "Virtual Inertia of Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Stations with Dual Droop Control and Augmented Frequency Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    5. Portilla-Paveri, Manuel & Cariaga, Denise & Negrete-Pincetic, Matías & Lorca, Álvaro & Anjos, Miguel F., 2024. "A long-term generation and transmission expansion planning model considering desalination flexibility and coordination: A Chilean case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    6. Hamed, Mohammad M. & Mohammed, Ali & Olabi, Abdul Ghani, 2023. "Renewable energy adoption decisions in Jordan's industrial sector: Statistical analysis with unobserved heterogeneity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Guo, Kaibin & Chen, YuanYi & Yang, Qiang, 2026. "Deep reinforcement learning based coordinated control for integrated energy system with photovoltaic, storage and electric vehicles considering transportation-power network couplings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 403(PA).
    8. Ajla Mehinovic & Matej Zajc & Nermin Suljanovic, 2023. "Interpretation and Quantification of the Flexibility Sources Location on the Flexibility Service in the Distribution Grid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Liu, Hui & Huang, Kai & Wang, Ni & Qi, Junjian & Wu, Qiuwei & Ma, Shicong & Li, Canbing, 2019. "Optimal dispatch for participation of electric vehicles in frequency regulation based on area control error and area regulation requirement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 46-55.
    10. Gaggero, Mauro & Paolucci, Massimo & Ronco, Roberto, 2023. "Exact and heuristic solution approaches for energy-efficient identical parallel machine scheduling with time-of-use costs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 311(3), pages 845-866.
    11. Mousavizade, Mirsaeed & Bai, Feifei & Garmabdari, Rasoul & Sanjari, Mohammad & Taghizadeh, Foad & Mahmoudian, Ali & Lu, Junwei, 2023. "Adaptive control of V2Gs in islanded microgrids incorporating EV owner expectations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    12. Xia, Mingchao & Song, Yuguang & Chen, Qifang, 2019. "Hierarchical control of thermostatically controlled loads oriented smart buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    13. Andre Leippi & Markus Fleschutz & Michael D. Murphy, 2022. "A Review of EV Battery Utilization in Demand Response Considering Battery Degradation in Non-Residential Vehicle-to-Grid Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-22, April.
    14. Jonas Sievers & Thomas Blank, 2023. "A Systematic Literature Review on Data-Driven Residential and Industrial Energy Management Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-21, February.
    15. Zhang, Jing & Hu, Sijia & Zhang, Zhiwen & Li, Yong & Lin, Jinjie & Wu, Jinbo & Gong, Yusheng & He, Li, 2023. "An adaptive frequency regulation strategy with high renewable energy participating level for isolated microgrid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 683-698.
    16. De Masi, Rosa Francesca & Ruggiero, Silvia & Russo, Alessandro & Tariello, Francesco & Vanoli, Giuseppe Peter, 2026. "Residential PV–BESS–SOFC systems under future climate scenarios: A real-world data-driven optimization framework," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    17. Tabassum, Fariya & Azim, M.Imran & Islam, Md.Rashidul & Rahman, M.A. & Ali, Liaqat & Rahman, Md.Mahfuzur & Hossain, M.J., 2025. "Energy data security and pricing model in local energy markets using artificial intelligence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PB).
    18. Ranaboldo, M. & Aragüés-Peñalba, M. & Arica, E. & Bade, A. & Bullich-Massagué, E. & Burgio, A. & Caccamo, C. & Caprara, A. & Cimmino, D. & Domenech, B. & Donoso, I. & Fragapane, G. & González-Font-de-, 2024. "A comprehensive overview of industrial demand response status in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    19. Zhao, Xudong & Wang, Yibo & Liu, Chuang & Cai, Guowei & Ge, Weichun & Wang, Bowen & Wang, Dongzhe & Shang, Jingru & Zhao, Yiru, 2024. "Two-stage day-ahead and intra-day scheduling considering electric arc furnace control and wind power modal decomposition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    20. Baxter Williams & Daniel Bishop & Patricio Gallardo & J. Geoffrey Chase, 2023. "Demand Side Management in Industrial, Commercial, and Residential Sectors: A Review of Constraints and Considerations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-28, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:12:p:2986-:d:1416653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.