Optimal Planning of Community Energy Storage Systems In Low-Voltage Distribution Networks

Abstract

The increased adoption of renewable energy sources in modern power systems is mainly driven by their sustainable solutions for clean energy and potential to reduce energy costs. However, the intermittent and non-dispatchable nature of common renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic energy systems, may restrict the ability to fully exploit their benefits. Energy storage systems are used to overcome these challenges efficiently. Community energy storage systems (CESSs) are an emerging type of energy storage system that can trade energy with multiple stakeholders, including prosumers, consumers, and the grid, thereby generating techno-economic benefits. The benefits of a CESS can be further enhanced by optimising its planning aspects, namely its location, size, and rated power.

In this thesis, we propose novel optimal CESS planning frameworks to benefit multiple stakeholders in low-voltage distribution networks. First, we develop a multi-objective CESS planning framework to deliver technical benefits to the network, and economic benefits to the CESS provider and prosumers. The results demonstrated that our model generates enhanced techno-economic benefits compared to models that do not utilise a CESS, and models that optimise only the CESS operation. Then, we present a multi-objective stochastic optimisation framework to optimally plan CESSs under different energy pricing schemes (EPSs) of the CESS provider, thereby producing economic benefits for a community of prosumers and the CESS provider equitably. The optimisation framework minimises the investment and expected operating cost of the CESS provider, and the expected operating costs of prosumers. Our experiments show that under the EPS where the CESS provider trades energy with prosumers at the average grid energy price, and the objective of the CESS provider is traded-off moderately to improve the objective of prosumers, spreads the economic benefits for both beneficiaries most equitably. Next, we propose a multi-objective stochastic optimisation framework that can be used by governments to run auctions and select the best CESS project to financially support. So, CESS providers and energy community members can equitably benefit from the economic value generated by CESSs. Our experiments demonstrate that government financial support can accelerate the installation of CESSs and enhance their business viability. This can be achieved by boosting the economic benefits shared between CESS providers and communities, and ensuring these benefits are distributed equitably. Finally, we evaluate how the economic benefits for prosumers can be improved through optimal CESS planning under different energy trading schemes (ETSs). The results demonstrate that the ETS enabling prosumers to trade energy with both the grid and the CESS maximises their economic benefits.