Energy Management of a Cluster of Interconnected Price-Responsive Demands

We consider a cluster of interconnected price-responsive demands (e.g., an industrial compound or a university campus) that can be supplied through the main grid and a stochastic distributed energy resource (DER), e.g., a wind plant. Additionally, the cluster of demands owns an energy storage facility. An energy management system (EMS) coordinates the price-responsive demands within the cluster and provides the interface for energy trading between the demands and the suppliers, main grid and DER. The DER and the cluster of demands have a contractual agreement based on a take-or-pay contract. Within this context, we propose an energy management algorithm that allows the cluster of demands to buy, store, and sell energy at suitable times. This algorithm results in maximum utility for the demands. The uncertainty related to both the production level of the DER and the price of the energy obtained from/sold to the main grid is modeled using robust optimization (RO) techniques. Smart grid (SG) technology is used to realize 2-way communication between the EMS and the main grid, and between the EMS and the DER. Communication takes place on an hourly basis. A realistic case study is used to demonstrate the advantages of both the coordination provided by the EMS through the proposed algorithm and the use of SG technology.