Trends in Mathematics

Valentin Bertsch · Armin Ardone

Michael Suriyah · Wolf Fichtner
Thomas Leibfried
Vincent Heuveline
Editors

Advances in
Energy System
Optimization
Proceedings of the 2nd International
Symposium on Energy System
Optimization
Trends in Mathematics
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Valentin Bertsch • Armin Ardone •
Michael Suriyah • Wolf Fichtner •
Thomas Leibfried • Vincent Heuveline
Editors

Advances in Energy System

Optimization
Proceedings of the 2nd International
Symposium on Energy System Optimization
Editors
Valentin Bertsch Armin Ardone
Department of Energy Systems Analysis Institute for Industrial Production
Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
German Aerospace Center Karlsruhe, Germany
Stuttgart, Germany

Michael Suriyah Wolf Fichtner

Institute of Electric Energy Systems Institute for Industrial Production
and High-Voltage Technology Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe, Germany
Karlsruhe, Germany

Thomas Leibfried Vincent Heuveline

Institute of Electric Energy Systems Engineering Mathematics and Computing
and High-Voltage Technology Lab, Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Computing
Karlsruhe, Germany Heidelberg University
Heidelberg, Germany

ISSN 2297-0215 ISSN 2297-024X (electronic)

Trends in Mathematics
ISBN 978-3-030-32156-7 ISBN 978-3-030-32157-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4

Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 90-06, 90-08, 90B90, 90B99, 90B10, 90C05, 90C06, 90C10,
90C11, 90C15, 90C20, 90C29, 90C30, 93A14, 93A15, 93A30

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Preface

This volume on Advances in Energy System Optimization contains a selection

of peer-reviewed papers related to the 2nd International Symposium on Energy
System Optimization (ISESO 2018). The symposium was held at Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT) under the symposium theme “Bridging the Gap Between
Mathematical Modelling and Policy Support” on October 10–11, 2018. ISESO
2018 was organized by KIT (Institute for Industrial Production (IIP) and Institute
of Electric Energy Systems and High-Voltage Technology (IEH)), the Heidelberg
Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Heidelberg University (Engineering Math-
ematics and Computing Lab (EMCL)), German Aerospace Center (DLR, Institute
of Engineering Thermodynamics, Department of Energy Systems Analysis), and
the University of Stuttgart (Institute for Building Energetics, Thermotechnology,
and Energy Storage).
The organizing institutes are engaged in a number of collaborative research
activities aimed at combining interdisciplinary perspectives from mathematics,
operational research, energy economics, and electrical engineering to develop new
approaches to integrated energy system and grid modeling designed to solve real-
world energy problems efficiently. The symposium was now held for the second
time. By design, ISESO is limited in size as to ensure a productive atmosphere
for discussion and reflection on how to tackle the many challenges facing today’s
and tomorrow’s energy systems. Around 50 international participants attended 17
international presentations from both industry and academia including 2 keynote
presentations and 15 contributed papers in 6 sessions. The sessions focused on
diverse challenges in energy systems, ranging from operational to investment
planning problems, from market economics to technical and environmental con-
siderations, from distribution grids to transmission grids, and from theoretical
considerations to data provision concerns and applied case studies. The presenta-
tions were complemented by a panel discussion on the symposium theme “Bridging
the Gap Between Mathematical Modelling and Policy Support” involving senior
experts from academia and industry.

v
vi Preface

The papers in this volume are broadly structured according to the sessions within
the symposium as outlined below:
• Optimal Power Flow
• Energy System Integration
• Demand Response
• Planning and Operation of Distribution Grids.
The editors of this volume served as the organizing committee. We wish to thank all
the reviewers as well as all the individuals and institutions who worked hard, often
invisibly, for their tremendous support. In particular, we wish to thank Nico Meyer-
Hübner and Nils Schween for the coordination of the local organization. Finally, we
also wish to thank all the participants, speakers, and panelists for their contributions
to making ISESO a success.

Stuttgart, Germany Valentin Bertsch

Karlsruhe, Germany Armin Ardone
Karlsruhe, Germany Michael Suriyah
Karlsruhe, Germany Wolf Fichtner
Karlsruhe, Germany Thomas Leibfried
Heidelberg, Germany Vincent Heuveline
Contents

Part I Optimal Power Flow

Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed AC OPF: A Case Study
Considering ADMM and ALADIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Alexander Engelmann and Timm Faulwasser
Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Marco Giuntoli and Susanne Schmitt
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic
Optimal Power Flow in AC-DC Grids with Energy Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Nico Huebner, Nils Schween, Michael Suriyah, Vincent Heuveline,
and Thomas Leibfried
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal
Power Flow Problems in Parallel .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Nils Schween, Philipp Gerstner, Nico Meyer-Hübner, Viktor Slednev,
Thomas Leibfried, Wolf Fichtner, Valentin Bertsch,
and Vincent Heuveline

Part II Energy System Integration

Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled
Gas-to-Power Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Eike Fokken, Simone Göttlich, and Oliver Kolb
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid . . . . 81
Manuel Ruppert, Viktor Slednev, Rafael Finck, Armin Ardone,
and Wolf Fichtner

vii
viii Contents

Part III Managing Demand Response

A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of
Thermostatic Loads in Demand Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Carlos Henggeler Antunes, Vahid Rasouli, Maria João Alves,
Álvaro Gomes, José J. Costa, and Adélio Gaspar
Weighted Fair Queuing as a Scheduling Algorithm
for Deferrable Loads in Smart Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Tuncer Haslak

Part IV Planning and Operation of Distribution Grids

Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs)
Energy System .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Dimitri Pinel, Magnus Korpås, and Karen B. Lindberg
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters
for RES Integration .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Sabrina Ried, Armin U. Schmiegel, and Nina Munzke
 Part I
Optimal Power Flow
Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed
AC OPF: A Case Study Considering
ADMM and ALADIN

Alexander Engelmann and Timm Faulwasser

Abstract This paper investigates the role of feasible initial guesses and large con-
sensus-violation penalization in distributed optimization for Optimal Power Flow
(OPF) problems. Specifically, we discuss the behavior of the Alternating Direction
of Multipliers Method (ADMM). We show that in case of large consensus-violation
penalization ADMM might exhibit slow progress. We support this observation by
an analysis of the algorithmic properties of ADMM. Furthermore, we illustrate our
findings considering the IEEE 57 bus system and we draw upon a comparison
of ADMM and the Augmented Lagrangian Alternating Direction Inexact Newton
(ALADIN) method.

Keywords Distributed optimal power flow · ALADIN · ADMM

1 Introduction

Distributed optimization algorithms for AC Optimal Power Flow (OPF) recently

gained significant interest as these problems are inherently non-convex and
often large-scale; i.e. comprising up to several thousand buses [1]. Distributed

This work is part of a project that receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 730936. TF acknowledges further
support from the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung under the Elite Programme for Postdocs.

A. Engelmann ()
Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
T. Faulwasser
Institute for Energy Systems, Energy Efficiency and Energy Economics, TU Dortmund,
Dortmund, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 3

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_1
4 A. Engelmann and T. Faulwasser

optimization is considered to be helpful as it allows splitting large OPF problems into

several smaller subproblems; thus reducing complexity and avoiding the exchange
of full grid models between subsystems. We refer to [2] for a recent overview of
distributed optimization and control approaches in power systems.
One frequently discussed convex distributed optimization method is the Alternat-
ing Direction of Multipliers Method ( ADMM) [3], which is also applied in context
of AC OPF [1, 4, 5]. ADMM often yields promising results even for large-scale
power systems [4]. However, ADMM sometimes requires a specific partitioning
technique and/or a feasible initialization in combination with high consensus-
violation penalization parameters to converge [1]. The requirement of feasible
initialization seems quite limiting as it requires solving a centralized inequality-
constrained power flow problem requiring full topology and load information
leading to approximately the same complexity as full OPF.
In previous works [6–8] we suggested applying the Augmented Lagrangian
Alternating Direction Inexact Newton (ALADIN) method to stochastic and deter-
ministic OPF problems ranging from 5 to 300 buses. In case a certain line-search
is applied [9], ALADIN provides global convergence guarantees to local minimizers
for non-convex problems without the need of feasible initialization. The results in
[6] underpin that ALADIN is able to outperform ADMM in many cases. This comes
at cost of a higher per-step information exchange compared with ADMM and a more
complicated coordination step, cf. [6].
In this paper we investigate the interplay of feasible initialization with high
penalization for consensus violation in ADMM for distributed AC OPF. We illustrate
our findings on the IEEE 57-bus system. Furthermore, we compare the convergence
behavior of ADMM to ALADIN not suffering from the practical need for feasible
initialization [9]. Finally, we provide theoretical results supporting our numerical
observations for the convergence behavior of ADMM.
The paper is organized as follows: In Sect. 2 we briefly recap ADMM and ALADIN
including their convergence properties. Section 3 shows numerical results for the
IEEE 57-bus system focusing on the influence of the penalization parameter ρ on
the convergence behavior of ADMM. Section 4 presents an analysis of the interplay
between high penalization and a feasible initialization.

2 ALADIN and ADMM

For distributed optimization, OPF problems are often formulated in affinely coupled
separable form
 
minn fi (xi ) subject to xi ∈ Xi , ∀ i ∈ R and Ai xi = 0, (1)
x∈R x
i∈R i∈R

where the decision vector is divided into sub-vectors x  = [x1 , . . . , x|R| ] ∈ Rnx ,
R is the index set of subsystems usually representing geographical areas of a power
system and local nonlinear constraint sets Xi := {xi ∈ Rnxi | hi (xi ) ≤ 0}.
Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed AC OPF 5

Algorithm 1 ADMM
Initialization: Initial guesses zi0 , λ0i for all i ∈ R, parameter ρ.
Repeat (until convergence):
1. Parallelizable Step: Solve for all i ∈ R locally

ρ
2

xik = argmin fi (xi ) + (λki ) Ai xi + Ai (xi − zik ) s.t. hi (xi ) ≤ 0. (2)
xi 2 2

2. Update dual variables:

λk+1
i = λki + ρAi (xik − zik ). (3)

3. Consensus Step: Solve the coordination problem


min ρ   + λik+1 Ai Δxi (4a)
Δx 2 Δxi Ai Ai Δxi
i∈R

s.t. Ai (xik + Δxi ) = 0. (4b)
i∈R

4. Update variables: zk+1 ← x k + Δx k .

Throughout this work we assume that fi and hi are twice continuously differentiable
and that all Xi are compact. Note that the objective functions fi : Rnxi → R
and nonlinear inequality constraints hi : Rnxi → Rnhi only depend  on xi and that
coupling between them takes place in the affine consensus constraint i∈R Ai xi =
0 only. There are several ways of formulating OPF problems in form of (1) differing
in the coupling variables and the type of the power flow equations (polar or
rectangular), cf. [4, 6, 10].
Here, we are interested in solving Problem (1) via ADMM and ALADIN summa-
rized in Algorithms 1 and 2 respectively.1,2 At first glance it is apparent that ADMM
and ALADIN share several features. For example, in Step (1) of both algorithms,
local augmented Lagrangians subject to local nonlinear inequality constraints hi
are minimized in parallel.3 Observe that while ADMM maintains multiple local
Lagrange multipliers λi , ALADIN considers one global Lagrange multiplier vector
λ. In Step (2), ALADIN computes sensitivities Bi , gi and Ci (which often can
directly be obtained from the local numerical solver without additional computation)
whereas ADMM updates the multiplier vectors λi .

1 We remark that there exist a variety of variants of ADMM, cf. [3, 11]. Here, we choose the
formulation from [9] in order to highlight similarities between ADMM and ALADIN .
2 Note that, due to space limitations, we describe the full-step variant of ALADIN here. To obtain

convergence guarantees from a remote starting point, a globalization strategy is necessary, cf. [9].
3 For notational simplicity, we only consider nonlinear inequality constraints here. Nonlinear

equality constraints gi can be incorporated via a reformulation in terms of two inequality

constraints, i.e. 0 ≤ gi (xi ) ≤ 0.
6 A. Engelmann and T. Faulwasser

Algorithm 2 ALADIN (full-step variant)

Initialization: Initial guess (z0 , λ0 ), parameters Σi  0, ρ, μ.
Repeat (until convergence):
1. Parallelizable Step: Solve for all i ∈ R locally

ρ
2

xik = argmin fi (xi ) + (λk ) Ai xi + xi − zik  s.t. hi (xi ) ≤ 0 | κik .
xi 2 Σi

2. Compute sensitivities: Compute Hessian approximations Bik , gradients gik and Jacobians of the
active constraints Cik , cf. [9].
3. Consensus Step: Solve the coordination problem
 
 
min 1  k + gik Δxi + λk s + μ2 s 22
Δx,s 2 Δxi Bi Δxi
i∈R

s.t. Ai (xik + Δxi ) = s | λQP
i∈R (5)
Cik Δxi =0 ∀i ∈ R.

4. Update variables: zk+1 ← x k + Δx k , λk+1 ← λQP .

Similarity to ADMM: Remove Cik in (5), set Bik = ρA  k 
i Ai , gi = Ai λ and Σi = Ai Ai , set
k

μ = ∞ (i.e. s = 0) and use dual ascent step (3) for updating λk in (4), cf. [9].

In Step (3), both algorithms communicate certain information to a central entity

which then solves a (usually centralized) coordination quadratic program. However,
ALADIN and ADMM differ in the amount of exchanged information: Whereas
ADMM only communicates the local primal and dual variables xi and λi , ALADIN
additionally communicates sensitivities. This is a considerable amount of extra
information compared with ADMM. However, there exist methods to reduce the
amount of exchanged information and bounds on the information exchange are
given in [6]. Another important difference is the computational complexity of the
coordination step. In many cases, the coordination step in ADMM can be reduced
to an averaging step based on neighborhood communication only [3], whereas
in ALADIN the coordination step involves the centralized solution of an equality
constrained quadratic program.
In the last step, ADMM updates the primal variables zi , while ALADIN addi-
tionally updates the dual variables λ. Differences of ALADIN and ADMM also
show up in the convergence speed and their theoretical convergence guarantees:
Whereas ALADIN guarantees global convergence and quadratic local convergence
for non-convex problems if a certain globalization strategy is applied [9], few results
exist for ADMM in the non-convex setting. Recent works [12, 13] investigate the
convergence of ADMM for special classes of non-convex problems; however, to the
best of our knowledge OPF problems do not belong to these classes.
Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed AC OPF 7

3 Numerical Results

Next, we investigate the behavior of ADMM for large ρ and a feasible initialization to
illustrate performance differences between ADMM and ALADIN. We consider power
flow equations in polar form with coupling in active/reactive power and voltage
angle and magnitude at the boundary between two neighbored regions [6]. We
consider the IEEE 57-bus system with data from MATPOWER and partitioning as
in [6] as numerical test case.
Figures 1 and 2 show the convergence behavior of ADMM (with and without
feasible initialization (f.)) and ALADIN for several convergence indicators and two
different penalty parameters ρ = 104 and ρ = 106.4 Therein, the left-handed
plot depicts the consensus gap Ax k ∞ representing the maximum mismatch of
coupling variables (active/reactive power and voltage magnitude/angle) at borders
between two neighbored regions. The second plot shows the objective function value
f k and the third plot presents the distance to the minimizer x k − x  ∞ over the
iteration index k. The right-handed figure shows the nonlinear constraint violation
g(zk ) ∞ after the consensus steps (4) and (5) of Algorithms 1 and 2 respectively
representing the maximum violation of the power flow equations.5
In case of small ρ = 104 , both ADMM variants behave similar and converge
slowly towards the optimal solution with slow decrease in consensus violation,
nonlinear constraint violation and objective function value. If we increase ρ to
ρ = 106 with results shown in Fig. 2, the consensus violation Ax k ∞ gets smaller
in ADMM with feasible initialization. The reason is that a large ρ forces xik being
close to zik leading to small Ax k ∞ as we have Azk = 0 from the consensus step.
But, at the same time, this also leads to a slower progress in optimality f k compared
to ρ = 104 , cf. the second plot in Figs. 1 and 2.
On the other hand, this statement does not hold for ADMM with infeasible
initialization (blue lines in Figs. 1 and 2) as the constraints in the local step
4
0 × 10
10 5
0
10 100
4

3
-5
10 -5
2 10
ADMM
ADMM (f.)
1
ALADIN 10-5
-10 0 -10
10 10
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Fig. 1 Convergence behavior of ADMM with infeasible initialization, ADMM with feasible initial-
ization (f.) for ρ = 104 and ALADIN

4 The scaling matrices Σi are diagonal. They are chosen to improve convergence. Hence, entries
corresponding to voltages and phase angles are 100, entries corresponding to powers are set to 1.
5 The power flow equations for the IEEE 57-bus systems are considered as nonlinear equality

constraints gi (xi ) = 0. Hence, gi (xi ) = 0 represents a violation of the power flow equations.
8 A. Engelmann and T. Faulwasser

4
× 10
100 5
0
10 0
10
4

3
10-5 10-5
2 ADMM
ADMM (f.)
1
ALADIN 10-5
-10 0 -10
10 10
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Fig. 2 Convergence behavior of ADMM with infeasible initialization, ADMM with feasible initial-
ization (f.) for ρ = 106 and ALADIN

4
0 × 10
10 5
0 0
10 10
4

3
10-5
2 10-5
ADMM
ADMM (f.)
1
ALADIN 10-5
-10 0 -10
10 10
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Fig. 3 Convergence behavior of ADMM with infeasible initialization, ADMM with feasible initial-
ization (f.) for ρ = 1012 and ALADIN

and the consensus step of ADMM enforce an alternating projection between the
consensus constraint and the local nonlinear constraints. The progress in the
nonlinear constraint violation g(zk ) ∞ supports this statement. In its extreme, this
behavior can be observed when using ρ = 1012 depicted in Fig. 3. There, ADMM
with feasible initialization produces very small consensus violations and nonlinear
constraint violations at cost of almost no progress in terms of optimality.
Here the crucial observation is that in case of feasible initialization and large
penalization parameter ρ ADMM produces almost feasible iterates at cost of slow
progress in the objective function values. From this, one is tempted to conclude that
also for infeasible initializations ADMM will likely converge, cf. Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
This conclusion is supported by the rather small 57-bus test system. However, it
deserves to be noted that this conclusion is in general not valid, cf. [1].
For ALADIN, we use ρ = 106 and μ = 107 . Comparing the results of
ADMM with ALADIN , ALADIN shows superior quadratic convergence also in case
of infeasible initialization. This is inline with the known convergence properties
of ALADIN [9]. However, the fast convergence comes at the cost of increased
communication overhead per step, cf. [6] for a more detailed discussion. Note that
ALADIN involves a more complex coordination step, which is not straightforward
to solve via neighborhood communication. Furthermore, tuning of ρ and μ can be
difficult.
In power systems, usually feasibility is preferred over optimality to ensure a
stable system operation. Hence, ADMM with feasible initialization and large ρ can
Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed AC OPF 9

in principle be used for OPF as in this case violation of power flow equations and
generator bounds are expected to be small and one could at least expect certain
progress towards an optimal solution. Following this reasoning several papers
consider A(x k − zk ) ∞ <  as termination criterion [1, 4]. However, as shown in
the example above, if ρ is large enough, and ADMM is initialized at a feasible point,
this termination criterion can always be satisfied in just one iteration if ρ is chosen
sufficiently large. Consequently, it is unclear how to ensure a certain degree of
optimality. An additional question with respect to ADMM is how to obtain a feasible
initialization. To compute such an initial guess, one has to solve a constrained
nonlinear least squares problem solving the power flow equations subject to box
constraints. This is itself a problem of almost the same complexity as the full OPF
problem. Hence one would again require a computationally powerful central entity
with full topology and parameter information. Arguably this jeopardizes the initial
motivation for using distributed optimization methods.

4 Analysis of ADMM with Feasible Initialization for ρ → ∞

The results above indicate that large penalization parameters ρ in combination

with feasible initialization might lead to pre-mature convergence to a suboptimal
solution. Arguably, this behavior of ADMM might be straight-forward to see from an
optimization perspective. However, to the best of our knowledge a mathematically
rigorous analysis, which is very relevant for OPF, is not available in the literature.
Proposition 1 (Feasibility and ρ → ∞ imply xik+1 − xik ∈ null(Ai ))
Consider the application of ADMM (Algorithm 1) to Problem (1). Suppose that, for
all k ∈ N, the local problems (2) have unique regular minimizers xik .6 For k̃ ∈ N,
let λk̃i be bounded and, for all i ∈ R, zik̃ ∈ Xi . Then, the ADMM iterates satisfy

lim x k (ρ) − xik̃ ∈ null(Ai ), ∀k > k̃.

ρ→∞ i

Proof The proof is divided into four steps. Steps 1–3 establish technical properties
used to derive the above assertion in Step 4.
Step 1. At iteration k̃ the local steps of ADMM are

    
ρ
2
k̃ 
xik̃ (ρ) = argmin fi (xi ) + λi
k̃
Ai xi + Ai xi − zi  . (6)
xi ∈Xi 2 2

Now, by assumption all fi s are twice continuously differentiable (hence bounded

on Xi ), λk̃i is bounded and all zik̃ ∈ Xi . Thus, for all i ∈ R, lim xik̃ (ρ) = zik̃ + vik̃
ρ→∞
with vik̃ ∈ null(Ai ).

6A minimizer is regular if the gradients of the active constraints are linear independent [14].
10 A. Engelmann and T. Faulwasser

Step 2. The first-order stationarity condition of (6) can be written as

 
−∇fi (xik̃ ) − γik̃ ∇hi (xik̃ ) = A λ
i i
k̃
+ ρA 
i A i x k̃
i − z k̃
i , (7)

where γik̃ is the multiplier associated to hi . Multiplying the multiplier update

formula (3) with A  k+1 = A λk + ρA A (x k −
i from the left we obtain Ai λi i i i i i
zik ). Combined with (7) this yields A k̃+1
i λi = −∇f (xik̃ ) − γ k̃ ∇hi (xik̃ ). By
differentiability of fi and hi , compactness of Xi and regularity of xik̃ this implies
boundedness of A k̃+1
i λi .
Step 3. Next, we show by contradiction that Δxik̃ ∈ null(Ai ) for all i ∈ R and
ρ → ∞. Recall the coordination step (4b) in ADMM given by
ρ 
min Δxi A k̃+1
i Ai Δxi + λi Ai Δxi s.t. Ai (xik̃ + Δxi ) = 0. (8)
Δx 2
i∈R i∈R


Observe that any Δxik̃ ∈ null(Ai ) is a feasible point to (8) as k̃
i∈R Ai xi = 0.

Consider a feasible candidate solution Δxi ∈
/ null(Ai ) for which i∈R Ai (xi +
k̃

Δxi ) = 0. Clearly, λk̃+1

i Ai Δxi (ρ) will be bounded. Hence for a sufficiently large
value of ρ, the objective of (8) will be positive. However, for any Δxi ∈ null(Ai )
the objective of (8) is zero, which contradicts optimality of the candidate solution
Δxi ∈ / null(Ai ). Hence, choosing ρ sufficiently large ensures that any minimizer
of (8) lies in null(Ai ).
Step 4. It remains to show xik̃+1 = xik̃ . In the last step of ADMM we have zk̃+1 =
x k̃ + Δx k̃ . Given Steps (1)–(3) this yields zk̃+1 = zk̃ + v k̃ + Δx k̃ and hence
      
 2   2   2
Ai xi − zk̃+1  = Ai xi − zk̃ + v k̃ + Δx k̃  = Ai xi − zk̃  .
 i   i i i   i 
2 2 2

Observe that this implies that, for ρ → ∞, problem (6) does not change from step
k̃ to k̃ + 1. This proves the assertion. 
Corollary 1 (Deterministic code, feasibility, ρ → ∞ implies xik+1 = xik )
Assuming that the local subproblems in ADMM are solved deterministically;
i.e. same problem data yields the same solution. Then under the conditions of
Proposition 1 and for ρ → ∞, once ADMM generates a feasible point xik̃ to
Problem (1), or whenever it is initialized at a feasible point, it will stay at this point
for all subsequent k > k̃.
The above corollary explains the behavior of ADMM for large ρ in combination
with feasible initialization often used in power systems [1, 4]. Despite feasible
iterates are desirable from a power systems point of view, the findings above imply
that high values of ρ limit progress in terms of minimizing the objective.
Feasibility vs. Optimality in Distributed AC OPF 11

Remark 1 (Behavior of ALADIN for ρ → ∞) Note that for ρ → ∞, ALADIN

behaves different than ADMM. While the local problems in ALADIN behave similar
to ADMM, the coordination step in ALADIN is equivalent to a sequential quadratic
programming step. This helps avoiding premature convergence and it ensures
decrease of f in the coordination step [9].

5 Conclusions

This method-oriented work investigated the interplay of penalization of consensus

violation and feasible initialization in ADMM. We found that—despite often working
reasonably with a good choice of ρ and infeasible initialization—in case of feasible
initialization combined with large values of ρ ADMM typically stays feasible yet
it may stall at a suboptimal solution. We provided analytical results supporting
this observation. However, computing a feasible initialization is itself a problem
of almost the same complexity as the full OPF problem; in some sense partially
jeopardizing the advantages of distributed optimization methods. Thus distributed
methods providing rigorous convergence guarantees while allowing for infeasible
initialization are of interest. One such alternative method is ALADIN [9] exhibiting
convergence properties at cost of an enlarged communication overhead and a more
complex coordination step [6].

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12 A. Engelmann and T. Faulwasser

12. Y. Wang, W. Yin, J. Zeng, J. Sci. Comput. 78(1), 29 (2019)

13. M. Hong, Z.Q. Luo, M. Razaviyayn, SIAM J. Optim. 26(1), 337 (2016)
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Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC
in Transmission Grids

Marco Giuntoli and Susanne Schmitt

Abstract Security-constrained optimal power flow is widely used by grid operators

during their short-term operations. Possible contingencies (e.g. outages of lines,
generators) analyzed during this phase may be very critical for the stability of
the power system. Thus, a simplified or reduced approach might not be desired.
Moreover, the presence of embedded high-voltage direct current (HVDC) links (i.e.
the DC link is done between two or more synchronous AC nodes) increases the
degrees of freedom of the physical problem and thus an economically better working
point for the system can be reached. To do this, a coordinated control between
the AC and DC systems is required using one single stage of optimal power flow
including the security assessment. In this work the SC-OPF (Security-Constrained
Optimal Power Flow) approach is used to analyse the effects of contingency cases
within the DC system.

Keywords Optimal power flow · Security-constrained optimal power flow ·

Embedded HVDC · N-1 criterion

1 Introduction

There is a world-wide trend towards increasing the share of renewable energy

sources for electricity generation. Since the yield of renewable energy sources like
e.g. solar and wind power is time-varying and depends on geographic location
there is an increasing demand for large-scale power transfer over long distances.
In recent years there have been more and more high-voltage direct current (HVDC)
links for power transmission commissioned and more are yet to be planned and
installed. In [1] an extensive overview of the advantages of DC technology for power
transmission is given. For instance, in Germany there are several embedded HVDC

M. Giuntoli · S. Schmitt ()

ABB Corporate Research Center Germany, Ladenburg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 13

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_2
14 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

links (i.e. they connect synchronous AC nodes) planned in order to transfer wind
power from the north to the high load regions in the south, see [2].
Optimal power flow is a widely discussed optimization problem to determine
the optimal operation of controllable equipment in a power grid, see e.g. [3, 4].
For transmission grid operation the so-called N − 1 criterion as defined in [5]
is a requirement. It means that for any single outage of a grid component (e.g.
a generator, a line or a power transformer) the remaining grid must be able to
operate safely within its limits. This leads to security-constrained optimal power
flow problems (SC-OPF). For this class of problems an extensive overview is
provided in [6]. SC-OPF problems can be formulated either in the preventive way,
i.e. there is a single set of control variables that has to be feasible in all considered
contingency cases or in the corrective way, i.e. for each contingency case there may
be a different set of control variables, and their values can be reached by short-term
control actions when a contingency case is taking place, see [7].
Optimal power flow formulations for hybrid AC/DC grids including security
constraints are presented e.g. in [1, 8] and [9]. In [10] a corrective SC-OPF
methodology is employed to investigate the capabilities of embedded HVDC
systems to compensate for contingency cases in the AC system and thus to reduce
redispatch by generators.
In this work we use SC-OPF to study the effects of the N − 1 criterion with
emphasis on contingency cases within the embedded HVDC systems. To our
knowledge the effects of N − 1 cases inside the DC systems have not yet been
studied extensively in the literature. As in [10] we focus on the capabilities of the
grid components and in particular the embedded HVDC systems to compensate for
contingency cases and to avoid generator redispatch.
This work is structured as follows: in Sect. 2 we present the mathematical model
for SC-OPF for hybrid AC/DC grids. Then, in Sect. 3 we describe the case study
grid and scenario used as well as the implementation of the approach (Sect. 4). The
case study results are presented and discussed in Sect. 5, and we give conclusions
and suggestions for future work in the final Sect. 6.

2 The Mathematical Model

The mathematical model of the SC-OPF is used to perform a steady-state optimiza-

tion for hybrid AC/DC grids, where the two types of grids are coupled via a set of
power converters. The model is formulated such that just one single optimization
problem can be used to solve the AC and DC grids simultaneously; this means in
particular that no iterative algorithm is needed to reach the final solution.
The model is written to address one-phase electric systems, i.e. it can evaluate
a mono-phase system or a multiphase system but in the latter case the system
must be balanced and symmetric to consider only the positive sequence (Fortescue
transformation).
Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids 15

All the variables and equations are expressed in complex polar form and they
are differentiable and continuous. This means that discrete variables (e.g. limited
number of tap changer positions or discontinuous active power range for the
generators) are not considered. The set of variables are split into two parts: control
(or independent) variables u representing power setpoints (active and reactive) for
controllable devices as well as tap changer and phase changer positions for power
transformers. State (or dependent) set of variables x consisting of voltage magnitude
and phase at AC nodes, voltage at DC nodes as well as power flows over AC and
DC branches.
Regarding the N − 1 criterium, the model is able to take into account the outage
of a branch (overhead line, power transformer or cable) or a generic equipment
inside the system (power generator, power converter). Both the preventive and the
corrective N − 1 methodology can be used. Furthermore, there is no particular
restriction about the grid topology. This means that it is possible to solve meshed
AC and DC (e.g. multiterminal DC) synchronous and asynchronous grids.
The mathematical model can be formulated as the following nonlinear optimiza-
tion problem:


Nc
minimize p0 f (u0 , x0 ) + pc f (uc , xc )
u0 ,...uNc
c=1

subject to gc (uc , xc ) = 0 c = 0 . . . Nc , (1)

hc (uc , xc ) ≤ 0 c = 0 . . . Nc ,
Δuc ≤ uc − u0 ≤ Δuc ,

where Nc is the number of contingency cases considered (c = 0 corresponds to the

base case where no contingencies have happened). The set of equality constraints
gc (uc , xc ) describes the power balance for each node and equipment, while the set
of inequality constraints hc (uc , xc ) describes the physical limits of each component.
The deviation of the control variable in case of corrective N − 1 method can be
accordingly limited with the upper Δuc and lowerΔuc bounds (e.g. active power
setpoint deviation between the contingency cases and the base case).
The objective function f may be chosen as the generator dispatch cost in
the system, system losses, voltage magnitude or angle variability, reactive power
generated or another power system objective. It is also possible to provide flexible
weights for the different contingency cases under consideration. In this work the
objective function is defined as the economic dispatch cost in quadratic form:

Ng  

ζ = αg + βg Pg + γg Pg2
g=1
⎧ ⎫ (2)
Nc ⎨
 Ng  ⎬
+ cg+ Δpg,c
+
+ cg− Δpg,c
−
⎩ ⎭
c=1 g=1
16 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

Here Ng is the number of generators in the grid, Pg is the active power generated by
the generator g, while αg , βg , γg are cost coefficients for the individual generators.
+ and Δp− are the active power deviation (positive and negative) for each
Δpg,c g,c
contingency and they are calculated with respect to the base case and weighed with
the relative linear cost coefficients cg+ and cg− .
The grid model is composed of the following items: nodes (AC and DC), power
loads, branches and active equipments (generators, converters and reactive power
sources like e.g. static VAR compensators (SVC)). Two power balance equations
are given for the AC nodes and one for the DC nodes. In the subsequent paragraphs
an overview over the models of the grid components is provided.
The following equation describes the active power balance for an AC node:

− p(vn,c , θn,c ) + pg,c + ph,ac,c − pn,d = 0, (3)

where the subscripts n and c denote the n-th node and the c-th contingency case.
The term p(vn,c , θn,c ) is the active power flow into the n-th AC node where v and
θ are the voltage magnitude and phase; the term pg,c is the power supplied by the
g-th active source; the term ph,ac,c is the power supplied by the h-th converter; the
term pd is the power demand. In the same way it is possible to describe the reactive
power balance for the AC nodes:

− q(vn,c , θn,c ) + qg,c + qh,ac,c − qn,d = 0. (4)

For the DC nodes, only one power balance equation is needed:

− p(vn,c ) + ph,dc,c = 0, (5)

since in this case no power generators and loads are present. For both AC and DC
nodes the voltage magnitude is constrained to its lower and upper limits.
The branches are modeled as generic passive components able to transfer current
from one node to another according to Kirchhoff’s circuit laws. The double bi-pole
model with PI scheme has been used. This model can be applied to overhead lines,
cables, power transformers (with and without tap changer and/or phase shifter)
and to DC overhead lines and cables. Without loss of generality we assume the
tap changer and phase shifter to be installed on the from-node of the branch and
constrained with their limits. Both can be modelled with a pure gain δ and a complex
rotation ej θ . For a generic branch b, contingency c and defining i as from-node and j
as to-node, it is possible to describe the relationship between the current and voltage
phasors as follows:
    . 
2
yii δb,c yij δb,c ej θb,c
ii vi
− −j θ . = 0. (6)
ij yj i δb,c e b,c yjj vj
Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids 17

Exploiting the symmetry of the model, the matrix component with subscript ii
is equal to the component with jj and, in the same way, the component with ij
is equal to the component with j i. Those values arise from the longitudinal and
transversal susceptance and conductance parameters. The equations that describe
a double bi-pole model are used to model the active and reactive power flow
through the branches, and thus those flows are used inside the nodes power balance
equations (3), (4), (5). Obviously, the power flow (active power or apparent power or
current module) can be constrained at both sides of the branch with an upper limit.
The power generators are generic active components able to inject active and/or
reactive power into the system. The generator capability is defined as a domain
created by the intersection of a rectangle (active and reactive upper and lower
bounds) and a circle (apparent power bound). Additional linear bounds between
active and reactive power can be defined in order to customize the capability domain.
In a similar way, by neglecting the active power, voltage controlling reactive
power sources can be used inside the model: in this case, a linear relationship
between voltage magnitude and reactive power output is used.
The power converters are able to transfer power in both directions between AC
and DC nodes. The converter model takes into account the power balance between
the AC and DC ports with the losses due to its power electronics. Moreover, the
converters may have capability domains described in the same way as for generators.
The converter power balance equation is written as follows:

ph,ac,c + ph,dc,c + ph,loss,c = 0, (7)

where the subscripts loss denotes the power losses inside the h-th converter and the
c-th contingency. The AC side current is determined by the following equation that
describes the power balance in the AC converter side:

2
ph,ac,c + qh,c
2
√ − ih,ac,c = 0. (8)
3 vh,ac,c

Finally, the power losses are calculated by a formula that creates a quadratic
relationship between the current ih,ac,c and losses ph,loss,c (see e.g. [11] and [12])
with parameters αh , βh and γh that may be individual for each converter:
2
αh + βh ih,ac,c + γh ih,ac,c − ph,loss,c = 0. (9)

This model is suited for steady-state analyses, so that transient behaviour, e.g.
fault and stability analysis cannot be investigated with it.
18 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

3 Case Study

The case study in this work is based on the IEEE118 test grid (see [13]).
The generator costs have been modified in order to encourage power transfer
from the (low cost) western zone to the (high cost) eastern zone (see Fig. 1). In
particular, the generation cost in the western zone have been set to zero to emulate
renewable generation, while the cost coefficients in the western zone have not been
modified.
The focus of our analysis lies on one additional power corridor between the nodes
8 and 65 (highlighted in red in Fig. 1). There are three options for this considered
corridor: an AC corridor, a monopolar HVDC corridor as well as a bipolar HVDC
corridor with identical total power ratings of 500 MVA and total length of 500 km.
The electrical parameters of the AC corridor as well as the resistance of the DC lines
are taken from [14]. Due to the huge length of the corridor the AC line has been split
in three line segments. The HVDC converters exhibit a loss model with a quadratic
relationship to the AC current (see [15]).
For all three configurations the effects of security constraints on the corridor
are analysed. For both the AC corridor and the monopolar HVDC corridor the
considered contingency implies the outage of the whole corridor, while for the
bipolar configuration an N − 1 contingency case involved the outage of one of the
two poles.
In order to discourage redispatch of generators in the contingency case, we
require the generator active and reactive power output to be identical in the base
case and the contingency case, while HVDC converter setpoints may differ between
base case and contingency case. This means that the generators follow a preventive
security strategy while HVDC converters follow a corrective security strategy. The
same behaviour can be achieved by imposing very high redispatch cost on the
generators. The possibly changing losses after an outage are balanced by adapted
voltage profiles. In addition, the setpoints for transformers are fixed.

4 Implementation

A software tool for solving the security-constrained optimal power flow problem as
described in Sect. 2 has been developed in C++ using Microsoft Visual StudioTM .
Inside this software the open-source library IPOPT (see [16]) is used as solver
for non-linear programming based on an interior point method. To speed up the
optimization process and to increase accuracy, we derived the analytic forms of
Jacobian and Hessian matrices of the objective function and the constraints and
pass them directly to the solver instead of using numerical differentiation.
The input data as well as the optimization results including all control and
state variables are given as text files. In the results discussion below (Sect. 5) we
summarize these results in the form of the key performance indicators dispatch
 Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids
19

Fig. 1 Illustration if the IEEE118 test grid, the two generator cost zones and the additional corridor under investigation [17]
20 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

cost, power flow over the considered corridor, active power losses and voltage angle
deviation.

5 Results

The result of the SC-OPF is analysed in terms of dispatch cost (Fig. 2), power flow
over the considered corridor (Fig. 3), active power losses in the system (Fig. 4) and
voltage angle difference along the corridor (Fig. 5).
The first observation is that in the cases without the N − 1 criterion, all the values
for the monopolar and the bipolar HVDC corridors coincide, which is obvious since
they have identical parameters and rating. When looking at the dispatch cost in
Fig. 2 it can be observed that the cost is lowest for both the HVDC variants without
N − 1 criterion. With N − 1 criterion both HVDC variants have lower dispatch cost
than the AC variant, while the bipolar configuration has the lowest dispatch cost.
This can be explained by the higher efficiency of the HVDC systems compared to
the AC corridor (lower losses over long distances) and the higher redundancy of the
bipolar configuration compared to the monopolar one. This way more power can

Economic Dispatch
Economic Dispatch, norm. to HVDC BP [%]

120

115

110

105

100
-1
-1

-1
N
N

N
BP
P
AC

P
AC

BP
M

C
ne

VD

C
ne

VD

C
Li

VD
VD
Li

H
H

H
H

Scenario [#]

Fig. 2 Dispatch cost relative to bipolar HVDC scenario without N − 1. Red, dark blue: AC line
with/without N −1; violet, yellow: monopolar HVDC with/without N −1; light blue, green: bipolar
HVDC with/without N − 1
Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids 21

Corridor power flow

120
Corridor flow, norm. to HVDC BP [%]
100

80

60

40

20

-20

-1
-1

-1
N
N

N
BP
P
AC

P
AC

BP
M

C
ne

VD

C
ne

VD

C
Li

VD
VD
Li

H
H

H
H

Scenario [#]

Fig. 3 Power flow over corridor relative to bipolar HVDC scenario without N − 1 (457 MW)

be transferred from the low cost generation zone to the high cost generation zone
which enables a generation dispatch at lower total cost.
This explanation is confirmed by the power flow over the corridor (Fig. 3), where
the bipolar HVDC configuration is able to transfer the most power from the low cost
generation zone to the high cost generation zone. The monopolar HVDC corridor
is transferring significantly less power in the N − 1 case since it has to prepare
for the outage of the full corridor. The AC corridor is not even able to maintain the
power flow direction in the N −1 case. The significant deviations in the power flows
between the AC and monopolar HVDC configuration can be explained by voltage
limits and differences in the generator dispatch.
The active power losses in the system can be seen in Fig. 4. There we did not
observe a clear pattern, which can be explained by the fact that in all the scenarios
the generator dispatch and thus the power flows through the whole system are very
different, and the losses were not the objective of the optimization performed.
When looking at the angle deviations in Fig. 5 is can be observed that the AC
corridor exhibits a large angle deviation in the case without security criterion, while
all the HVDC configurations are able to maintain smaller angle deviations which
indicates a higher system stability.
In Table 1 the voltage magnitudes and reactive power injected at the corridor
terminal nodes 8 and 65 are listed for the N − 1 scenario before and after the
contingencies. It can be observed that the bipolar HVDC configuration is able to
22 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

Power losses

Power losses, norm. to HVDC BP [%] 100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

60
-1
-1

-1
N
N

N
BP
P
AC

P
AC

BP
M

C
ne

VD

C
ne

VD

C
Li

VD
VD
Li

H
H

H
H

Scenario [#]

Fig. 4 Active power losses in the system relative to bipolar HVDC scenario without N − 1
(120 MW)

Angle deviation: Node 8-Node 65

10
Angle deviation [deg]

-5
-1
-1

-1
N
N

N
BP
P
AC

P
AC

BP
M

C
e

C
n

VD

C
e

VD

C
Li

VD
VD
Li

H
H

H
H

Scenario [#]

Fig. 5 Angle Deviation over corridor in degrees

Security Analysis of Embedded HVDC in Transmission Grids 23

Table 1 Voltage magnitude V(8) V(65) Q(8) Q(65)

and reactive power injection
Case [p.u.] [p.u.] [MVAr] [MVAr]
at nodes 8 and 65 for all three
corridor configurations in the AC; base 0.980 0.968 98.2 118.6
base case and the contingency AC, cont. 1.046 0.965 0.0 0.0
case of the N − 1 scenarios DC MP; base 1.039 1.012 −19.0 −96.1
DC MP, cont. 0.973 1.021 0.0 0.0
DC BP; base 1.004 1.023 −58.7 −5.1
DC BP, cont. 0.998 1.023 −56.5 0.0

maintain a stable voltage level close to the nominal voltage by providing reactive
power to the grid. In contrast, for the AC configuration the voltage magnitude
at node 8 changes significantly because of high generation in the region. The
monopolar HVDC configuration is also stabilizing the voltage by reactive power
injection but in the outage case there is the same effect as for the AC corridor.

6 Conclusion and Future Work

A mathematical model and a software for security-constrained optimal power flow

for generic hybrid AC/DC grids has been developed. In this work it has been used
to study the effects of the N − 1 criterion on embedded HVDC systems.
The above results show that for the bipolar HVDC configuration the power plant
dispatch with lowest cost could be established when the N −1 criterion is employed.
This study has been performed on the IEEE118 grid with a single corridor under
consideration. The results indicate the benefits of employing bipolar HVDC systems
in order to increase the social welfare.
In order to draw conclusions for real transmission systems, additional studies on
real grid configurations with possibly several embedded HVDC links would have to
be performed.
Additionally, an investigation including contingency cases both in the AC and
DC parts of the power system would be interesting to investigate the capabilities
of embedded HVDC to compensate for general N − 1 cases and thus to reduce
redispatch cost for grid operators.

Acknowledgements This research was partly supported by the Federal Ministry of Education
and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the project “Neue EnergieNetzStruktURen für die
Energiewende”İ ENSURE (FKZ 03SFK1N0).
24 M. Giuntoli and S. Schmitt

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Multi-area Coordination
of Security-Constrained Dynamic
Optimal Power Flow in AC-DC Grids
with Energy Storage

Nico Huebner, Nils Schween, Michael Suriyah, Vincent Heuveline,

and Thomas Leibfried

Abstract In times of growing integrated electricity markets and needed coordina-

tion of large inter-regional physical power flows, multi-area Optimal Power Flow
(OPF), also referred to as distributed OPF, has gained importance in research.
However, the conventional OPF is only of limited use since a TSO is strongly
interested in N-1 security. Furthermore, time-dependent constraints such as gen-
erator ramping or energy storage limits play a growing role. Consequently, a
Security-Constrained Dynamic OPF (SC-D-OPF) includes both N-1 security and
quasi-stationary dynamics. We present a decoupling approach to compute an SC-
D-OPF by coordination among inter-connected areas. Privacy is maintained by
implementing an Alternating Direction of Multipliers Method (ADMM), where
only results of boundary variables are exchanged with a neighbor. We show the
functionality of the approach in a small test case, where the distributed result is
close to that of a centralized optimization.

Keywords Multi-area optimal power flow · Distributed optimal power flow · N-1
security · Energy storage · Dynamic optimal power flow · Multi-period optimal
power flow · Embedded HVDC · AC-DC grids

N. Huebner () · M. Suriyah · T. Leibfried

Institute of Electric Energy Systems and High-Voltage Technology (IEH), Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
N. Schween · V. Heuveline
Engineering Mathematics and Computing Lab (EMCL), Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific
Computing (IWR), Heidelberg, Germany

© The Author(s) 2020 27

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_3
28 N. Huebner et al.

1 Introduction

The increasing penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) leads to a power

system operation closer to its operational limits. Enhanced methods and tools will be
crucial for a secure, but also efficient and cheap planning and operation of the power
grid. A Transmission System Operator (TSO) will have larger assets of controllable
devices at hand, such as Voltage Source Converter (VSC-) based HVDC-systems
and energy storage systems. Combined with the need to assure N-1 security, this
requires a Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power Flow (SC-D-OPF), which
incorporates both N-1 security and multiple time steps into the optimization. First
research in that area was done in [1], where not only power but also necessary
energy reserves can be determined to ensure N-1 security. In [2], successive linear
algorithms and approximated power flows are used to solve large-scale SC-D-OPF
problems in a European context. The authors of [3] propose an SC-D-OPF model
including uncertainty of wind power or equipment availability, which is solved in
a two-stage stochastic program. In [4], SC-D-OPF is used as inner iteration in a
hierarchical approach to optimize a central deployment signal which is sent to the
units able to provide a reserve. Furthermore, [5–7] include energy storage systems
in an SC-D-OPF calculation. A further extension is shown in [8], where SC-D-OPF
is solved in a hybrid AC-DC grid with energy storage.
Due to the increasing complexity of the power system and an operation closer to
network limitations, central coordination in large scale networks comes with major
computational burdens. Furthermore, privacy can be a concern for each transmission
system operator (TSO) controlling a certain region. Subsequently, the interest in
distributed optimization, also referred to as multi-area optimization has substantially
grown in recent years. An early overview of distributed OPF algorithms can be
found in [9] and the most recent developments are examined in detail in [10]. The
Alternating Direction of Multipliers Method (ADMM) [11], has become a popular
branch to tackle the non-convex AC OPF problem [12–14]. Each area uses variable
duplicates from neighboring areas and is solved to optimality. Penalty terms, which
are calculated from the coupling variable deviation and Lagrangian multipliers,
are added to the objective function to push two neighbors towards a common
boundary solution. ADMM was applied to a hybrid AC-DC grid in [15]. Multi-
area optimization is applied to D-OPF with storage in [16] using OCD, but to the
best of our knowledge, no attempts have been made toward distributing SC-D-OPF.

2 Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power Flow

(SC-D-OPF)

The optimization horizon is defined by a set of time steps T = {1, . . . , T } with

T the total number of considered time steps. Furthermore, we define a scenario set
C = {0, . . . , C}. Here, scenario c = 0 defines the base case, i.e. the original fault-
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 29

free network. A total of C possible contingencies is added by including modified

versions of the base case to the scenario set. A modification could be the outage of
an AC line, a DC line or a converter. With x t,c the optimization variables of time
step t and scenario c, the full set of optimization variables is collected in
 
x = (x 1,0) , . . . , (x 1,C ) , . . . , (x T ,0 ) , . . . , (x T ,C ) . (1)

The full problem has the form (2):


minimize pt,c · f (x t,c ) (2a)
x
t ∈T c∈C

subject to hbase (x t,c ) ≤ 0 ∀t ∈ T , c ∈ C (2b)

hdyn (x t,0, x t −1,0 ) ≤ 0 ∀t ∈ T \ 1 (2c)
hN-1 (x t,0 , x t,c ) ≤ 0 ∀t ∈ T , c ∈ C \ 0. (2d)

It minimizes the sum of weighted costs f over all scenarios. Factor pt,c defines
a probability of each contingency to enable a risk-based OPF. Constraints hbase
describe the basic constraints of a conventional OPF, which must be fulfilled during
each scenario (t, c). That includes AC and DC node power balance; thermal AC
and DC branch limits; AC and DC voltage limits; quadratic loss function of AC-
DC converters; and operational limits of generators, converters or sheddable loads.
Time-dependent constraints, such as storage energy limits or generator ramping
limits, are collected in hdyn . Those constraints only apply to the base case (c = 0),
since set points after an outage are coupled solely to the respective base case of
the identical time step. This N-1 coupling is modeled by the constraints hN-1 and
guarantees N-1 security. Here, the coupling between each contingency and the base
case is explicitly modeled. That is, set point deviation limits from before to after
the occurrence of an outage can be defined. Note that for the sake of readability, we
omit equality constraints which can be interpreted as reformulated inequalities as
well. We refer to [8] for more details on the modeling.

3 Distributed Formulation

For the sake of readability, we write (2) in the form (3):

minimize f (x) (3a)

x

subject to h(x) ≤ 0. (3b)

30 N. Huebner et al.

Let R non-overlapping regions be defined in R = {1, . . . , R}, that is, each node
belongs to exactly one region. An equivalent problem as (3), but in separable form,
can be written as (4):

minimize fk (xk ) (4a)
xk ,∀k∈R
k∈R

subject to hk (xk ) ≤ 0, ∀k ∈ R (4b)


Ak xk = 0. (4c)
k∈R

Here, xk ∈ Rlk , hk : Rlk → Rmk and fk : Rlk → R are optimization

variables, non-linear constraints and objective function, respectively, in a region
k. Matrix Ak ∈ Rn×lk maps xk onto the full set of n coupling constraints and
enforces consensus between regions. Thus, (4b) forms independent local SC-D-
OPF constraints and (4c) form the coupling constraints which recuperate a feasible
overall power flow.

4 Network Decomposition in AC-DC Grids

To allow for a separable formulation, the network is first partitioned and then
decomposed.
Network partitioning can be crucial for distributed algorithms to achieve good
performance. We believe that network partitions are inherently given by structural
responsibilities. For example, a region or control area could represent one TSO,
multiple TSOs or a whole country. Thus, the number and dimension of AC regions
are historically known. However, responsibilities in overlaying DC networks are
yet to be defined and various options are thinkable [15]. We choose a Shared-DC
approach. Here, we define R = R AC hybrid AC-DC regions, where each AC region
may also contain DC nodes. Thus, each existing TSO gains control over converters
in its own control area. Let Nk identify all nodes in region k. Herewith, NkAC collects
all AC nodes and NkDC all DC nodes in region k.

4.1 Decoupling of AC or DC Tie Line

In principle, the decoupling of AC and DC tie line is identical, except for extended
consensus constraints due to complex voltage and power in the AC case (Fig. 1).
The original line is cut into two halves; auxiliary nodes (m, n) and auxiliary
generators (a, b) are added at both open ends. Thus, node sets are augmented to
NA ← {NA , m}, NB ← {NB , n}. To guarantee a feasible power flow, the voltage
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 31

i m n j
Z/2 Z/2

PG,a PG,b
(QG,a ) (QG,b )

Region A Region B

Fig. 1 Decoupling model of a tie line (AC or DC) between nodes i and j . Two auxiliary nodes (m
and n) and two auxiliary generators (a and b) are added at the middle. Reactive power source QG
is only added for an AC tie line

must be equal at nodes m and n. Furthermore, the generators must produce the same
amount of power of the opposite sign. In the case of an AC tie line (i ∈ NAAC , j ∈
NBAC ), this leads to boundary conditions including complex voltage and both active
and reactive power. For time step and scenario (t, c), we have:
t,c t,c
|VAC,m | = |VAC,n | (5a)
t,c t,c
 VAC,m =  VAC,n (5b)
t,c t,c
PG,a = −PG,b (5c)

Qt,c
G,a = −Qt,c
G,b . (5d)

In the case of a DC tie line (i ∈ NADC , j ∈ NBDC ), only real voltage and active power
must meet the constraints. For time step and scenario (t, c), we have:
t,c t,c
VDC,m = VDC,n (6a)
t,c t,c
PG,a = −PG,b . (6b)

Equations (5) and (6) are the only boundary constraints.

4.2 Building Consensus Constraint Matrix A

Since xkt,c uses the augmented node sets of region k, the auxiliary generator variables
are included. Thus, consensus constraints (5)–(6) between region A and B can be
written to

Ãt,c t,c t,c t,c

A xA + ÃB xB = 0. (7)
32 N. Huebner et al.

t∈T
c∈C

Fig. 2 Schematic problem decomposition for two areas (blue and green) under consideration of
three time steps and two contingencies. A dashed box represents an optimization problem. (a)
Centralized SC-D-OPF. (b) Distributed SC-D-OPF

This must be fulfilled for every considered time or contingency scenario (Fig. 2).
Then we have
⎡ ⎤
xA1,0
⎢ ⎥
⎡ ⎤ ⎢ .. ⎥
1,0 1,0 ⎢ . ⎥
à ÃB ⎢ ⎥
⎢ A . ⎥ ⎢x T ,C ⎥
⎢ . .. ⎥ ⎢ A ⎥ = 0. (8)
⎣ . . ⎦ ⎢ x 1,0 ⎥
⎢ B ⎥
T ,C
ÃA T ,C
ÃB ⎢ . ⎥
⎢ .. ⎥
⎣ ⎦
xBT ,C

In a more compact form, (8) can be written as


Ak xk = 0. (9)
k∈{A,B}

5 Implemented ADMM Algorithm

The general idea of ADMM, see also [11], is the following. Augmented regional
OPFs are solved and the deviation of boundary variables from a fixed auxiliary
variable z, which is information stemming from neighboring regions, is penalized.
The regions then exchange information and z is updated. The update is re-distributed
to the local agents (areas) for a new OPF calculation until consensus between
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 33

regions is achieved. It is constructed an augmented Lagrangian of the form


L(x, z, λ) = fk (xk ) + λ
k Ak (xk − zk )
k∈R

ρ
+ ||Ak (xk − zk )||2W , (10)
2

with penalty parameter ρ ∈ R. Dual variables of the consensus constraints are

denoted with λk ∈ Rn×1 , and W ∈ Rn×n is a positive definite, diagonal weighting
matrix,1 where each entry is related to one coupling constraint. We refer to W (S)
if the entry is related to a power variable, and to W (V ) if the entry is related to
a voltage variable. In ADMM literature, W is the identity matrix. The main steps
during one iteration of the solving process are

1. x = argminx∈X L(x, z, λ) (11a)

2. z = argminz∈Z L(x, z, λ) (11b)
3. λ ← λ + ρW A(x − z) (11c)

with z = [z1 . . . zR ] . The first step (11a) minimizes a non-linear problem,

where constraint region

 
X = x|hk (xk ) ≤ 0, ∀k ∈ R (12)

enforces local constraints (4b). Since z is fixed, (11a) is in fact a series of

R independent problems which can be calculated in parallel. The second step
minimizes a coupled quadratic problem, where
⎧ ⎫
⎨  ⎬
Z= z| Ak zk = 0 (13)
⎩ ⎭
k∈R

enforces consensus of auxiliary variables z. In fact, (11b) calculates the average

value between two consensus variables of neighboring regions [11, 13] and the
problem can be reduced to
ρ
z = argminz∈Z ||Ak (xk − zk )||2W . (14)
2
k∈R

1A weighted norm is calculated with ||X||2W = X  W X.

34 N. Huebner et al.

ESS 2
VSC B 4

5 G3
Wind
VSC C

ESS 1 PV

VSC A

1 2 3
G2
G1

Fig. 3 Test system with embedded HVDC, energy storage and RES. Partitioning into 3 control
areas

The weighting factors ρ and W can be neglected in (14), if the same weight is
assigned to two coupled variables, which is a reasonable choice. Once a region has
gathered necessary neighbor information, this step can be calculated locally as well
[12]. In the third step (11c), dual variables are updated based on a weighted distance
between x and z. Again, with given local xk and zk , each region can calculate λk
independently (Fig. 3).
In ADMM, an update rule on ρ can be useful to enforce consensus. A ρk ∈ R
is assigned to each region, which can be increased depending on the local residual,
see (18b). If the residual has not decreased sufficiently compared to the previous
iteration (indicator 0 < Θ ∈ R < 1), the penalty is increased by a constant factor of
τ ∈ R > 1. The penalty parameter must be chosen carefully since it is widely known
to be crucial for good convergence behavior [17]. An overview of the implemented
ADMM is given in Algorithm 1.

6 Results

6.1 Test Scenario

We use the illustrative AC-DC test system from [15], see Tables 1 and 2 for line and
generator parameters, respectively. The generator at Node 5 is interpreted as a wind
park and a PV park is connected to Node 3. RES upper power limit and load are
variable over time. Forecast power profiles are taken from the Belgian transmission
system operator Elia, which provides detailed RES generation and load data on its
website. Adapted profiles for usage in the 5-bus test system are shown in Figs. 6 and
7. We assume quadratic generator cost functions as in [18] (see Table 3) and one
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 35

Algorithm 1 ADMM
1: Initialization: Weighting matrix W , tolerance ; for all k ∈ R: initial guesses zk , penalty
parameters ρk = ρ, dual variables λk = 0, local solutions xk = ∞, local residues Γk = ∞.
2: while ||Ax||∞ >  and ||x − z||∞ >  do
3: Solve for all k ∈ R the decoupled NLPs
ρk
minimize fk (xk ) + λ
k Ak xk + ||Ak (xk − zk )||2W (15a)
xk 2
subject to hk (xk ) ≤ 0 (15b)

4: Solve the coupled averaging step


minimize ||Ak (xk − zk )||22 (16a)
z
k∈R

subject to Ak zk = 0 (16b)
k∈R

5: Update dual variables for all k ∈ R

λk ← λk + ρk W Ak (xk − zk ) (17)

6: Calculate local residues and penalty parameter updates for all k ∈ R

Γk+ = ||Ak (xk − zk )||∞ (18a)

⎧
⎨ρ if Γk+ ≤ ΘΓk
k
ρk ← (18b)
⎩τρk otherwise

7: Update Γk ← Γk+ for all k ∈ R

8: end while

cost coefficient for all reactive power injections. RES power injection is prioritized
by assigning a low fuel price. Two energy storage systems with characteristics from
Table 4 are connected to Node 3 and 5, respectively. Line flow limits of 400 MVA
for Line 1–2 and 240 MVA for Line 4–5, respectively, are used. Furthermore, the
capacity of each VSC is set to 200 MVA. Allowed voltage ranges lie between 0.9
and 1.1 pu on the AC side, and between 0.95 and 1.05 pu on the DC side.

6.2 Multi-area SC-D-OPF

To show applicability of the distributed approach to N-1 secure and dynamic

OPF problems, a small example is presented in the following. An SC-D-OPF
dispatch optimization is performed for the scenario set C = {0, Line 1–2 } and
T = {1, . . . , 4}. Storages and VSCs are allowed curative control, that is, operating
36 N. Huebner et al.

1 1
10 10
100 100
-1 -1
10 10
10-2 10-2
-3 -3
10 10
10-4 10-4
-5 -5
10 10
50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300

Fig. 4 Convergence behavior of distributed SC-D-OPF in the 5-bus system with 4 time steps and
1 contingency. Left: consensus error, right: cost error. Both relative to central solution

set points are allowed to move freely to a new set point after an outage. Contrarily,
conventional generators are operated preventively, that is, the power set point must
be valid both before and after the outage. However, to cope with changing system
losses after an outage, a deviation of 1 % of installed capacity is allowed.
We use ADMM settings ρ = 500, τ = 1.02, Θ = 0.99, W (S) = 1 and W (V ) =
100.
General convergence behavior is shown in Fig. 4. Consensus error and objective
suboptimality show similar behavior compared to conventional OPF cases. Consen-
sus error (||Ax||∞) which depicts cross-border feasibility, falls below the threshold
of 10−4 after 344 iterations. The deviation from centrally computed costs f ∗ is
denoted with f˜ = |1 − f/f ∗ |. The objective value error falls below 0.01 % when
convergence is achieved.
The progress of storage variables is shown in Fig. 5 for all time steps after the
outage. Dashed lines denote results from the centralized solution. Storage systems
provide positive (ESS 2 ) and negative (ESS 1 ) power reserve after the outage. The
amount of reserve is increased with time for a growing network stress level, but
energy levels remain within limits. The distributed solution is represented by solid
lines. Those oscillate around and eventually approach the target levels.

7 Conclusion

This paper presents an approach to calculate SC-D-OPF in a distributed manner.

That is, each control area computes a local N-1 secure and dynamic optimal dispatch
which respects boundary constraints from neighboring areas for each time step and
topology. After iteratively exchanging information and updating the local solution,
a consensus is found which allows for a feasible cross-border power flow for all
possible scenarios. Additionally, the result is close to the central optimal solution.
Optimal curative storage or VSC set points can be determined for a contingency
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 37

t = 1, c = 1 t = 1, c = 1
100 150

Energy [MWh]
50
Power [MW]

ESS 1 (distributed)
0 100
ESS 2 (distributed)

-50

-100 50
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400

t = 2, c = 1 t = 2, c = 1
100 150

Energy [MWh]
50
Power [MW]

ESS 1 (centralized)
0 100
ESS 2 (centralized)

-50

-100 50
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400

t = 3, c = 1 t = 3, c = 1
100 150
Energy [MWh]

50
Power [MW]

0 100

-50

-100 50
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400

t = 4, c = 1 t = 4, c = 1
100 150
Energy [MWh]

50
Power [MW]

0 100

-50

-100 50
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
Iteration Iteration

Fig. 5 Convergence of storage power and energy levels after the outage
38 N. Huebner et al.

scenario which is in a foreign area. In this work, we apply the method to a small
test system – the next steps are to increase system size, time horizon and number of
contingencies.

Appendix

Table 1 Line parameters Line R [pu] X [pu] Total B [pu]

with base power 100 MVA
1–2 0.00281 0.0281 0.00712
1–4 0.00304 0.0304 0.00658
1–5 0.00064 0.0064 0.03126
2–3 0.00108 0.0108 0.01852
4–3 0.00297 0.0297 0.00674
5–4 0.00297 0.0297 0.00674
DC 0.0002 0 0

Table 2 Generator Generator Node PG PG QG QG

parameters. (PG , PG ) in
G1 1 0 170 −127.5 127.5
[MW] and (QG , QG ) in
[Mvar] G2 3 0 520 −390 390
G3 4 0 200 −150 150

Table 3 Generator cost Cost coefficients

coefficients  1 e
  1 e  1 e

Generator aG bG MW aq
MW2 h h Mvar2 h
G1 0.010 15 0.001
G2 0.011 30 0.001
G3 0.012 40 0.001
RES 0 5 0.001

Table 4 Parameters for each Capacity 200 MWh

energy storage system
Maximal power 100 MW
Minimal energy 20 MWh
Maximal energy 180 MWh
Efficiency 95%
Costs
– discharge 10 e/MWh
– charge 0 e/MWh
Multi-area Coordination of Security-Constrained Dynamic Optimal Power. . . 39

500

400

300

Bus 2 Bus 3 Bus 4

200
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120

Fig. 6 Load profiles

1000 Wind
PV

500

0
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120

Fig. 7 RES profiles

Acknowledgements The authors kindly acknowledge the support for this work from the German
Research Foundation (DFG) under the Project Number LE1432/14-2.

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Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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the copyright holder.
A Domain Decomposition Approach
to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow
Problems in Parallel

Nils Schween, Philipp Gerstner, Nico Meyer-Hübner, Viktor Slednev,

Thomas Leibfried, Wolf Fichtner, Valentin Bertsch, and Vincent Heuveline

Abstract We propose a parallel solver for linear systems of equations arising

from the application of Primal Dual Interior Point methods to Dynamic Optimal
Power Flow problems. Our solver is based on the Generalised Minimal Residual
method in combination with an additive Schwarz domain decomposition method
as preconditioner. This preconditioner exploits the structure of Dynamic Optimal
Power Flow problems which, after linearization, is given as a matrix with large
diagonal blocks and only a few off-diagonal elements. These elements correspond
to intertemporal couplings due to ramping and energy storage constraints and are
partially neglected in order to solve the problem in parallel. We test our method on a
large-scale optimisation problem and show that a parallel speedup can be obtained.

Keywords Dynamical OPF · Multi-period OPF · Time domain decomposition ·

Additive Schwarz method · Preconditioner

N. Schween · P. Gerstner · V. Heuveline ()

Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and Engineering Mathematics and Computing
Lab (EMCL), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]
N. Meyer-Hübner · T. Leibfried
Institute of Electric Energy Systems and High-Voltage Technology, Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
V. Slednev · W. Fichtner
Chair of Energy Economics, Institute for Industrial Production, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
(KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
V. Bertsch
Department of Energy Systems Analysis, Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, German
Aerospace Center (DLR) and Institute for Building Energetics, Thermotechnology and Energy
Storage, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

© The Author(s) 2020 41

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_4
42 N. Schween et al.

1 Introduction

While today’s power grid infrastructure has been designed for centralised power
generation in conventional power plants, the ever increasing share of renewable
energy sources (RES) leads to an increasingly uncertain, volatile and decentralised
generation. In order to ensure a reliable grid operation and to maintain today’s
security of supply, it is necessary to develop methods to simulate accurately a power
grid at high temporal resolutions. This can be done by efficient methods for power
grid optimisation, including an accurate consideration of the non-linear and non-
convex AC power flow constraints. And these are to be improved.
The task to find the optimal operating state of a given power grid, also known as
Optimal Power Flow (OPF), is formalized as the minimisation of a cost function
with respect to a vector of continuous optimisation variables like the generated
active power and the generated reactive power. Dynamic Optimal Power Flow
(DOPF) considers several OPF problems, each corresponding to one specific
point in time. In this case, the power grid’s power demand is time-dependent and
additional constraints must be taken into account. These constraints couple some
of the optimisation variables corresponding to different time steps. Among others,
these couplings are introduced by energy storage facilities and ramping constraints
for conventional power plants [20]. Since DOPF is a large-scale non-linear and non-
convex optimisation problem, solving it in parallel is of crucial importance.
For this kind of problems Primal Dual Interior Point Methods (PDIPM) have
proven to be among the most powerful algorithms. The main computational effort,
when PDIPM is applied, lies in solving linear systems of equations [14]. And this a
task suitable to be carried out in parallel on multi-core CPUs.
There exist a few works on solving linear systems, that arise from PDIPM
applied to DOPF, in parallel. One approach is based on parallel matrix factorization
by means of Schur complement techniques [6, 20]. Other strategies use Benders
Decomposition to decompose the complete optimisation problem into smaller ones
[1].
Our contribution is the use of a Schwarz Domain Decomposition Method as
preconditioner for Krylov-type iterative methods for solving these linear systems
of equations in parallel. The original Schwarz method was formulated in 1870 as
theoretical tool for proving existence of elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs)
on complicated domains [17]. Later on, modifications of it have been used as stand-
alone iterative methods for solving PDEs and have become a standard technique for
preconditioning Krylov-type methods in the context of PDEs [18]. We apply this
technique to DOPF by decomposing the time domain of interest into several smaller
subdomains, which allows the use of multiple processors for computation.
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 43

2 Dynamic Optimal Power Flow

We will now formulate the DOPF problem in a mathematically rigorous way. This
formulation has already been stated in more detail by several authors, e.g. in [12, 20]
and [16]. We would like to mention that we consider a continuous formulation of
the DOPF problem, i.e. one without any discrete decision variables. A non-linear
mixed-integer formulation of an OPF is considered, for example, in [19].

2.1 Formulation of the DOPF

In order to formulate the DOPF problem for a given time period of interest [0, T ],
we consider a uniform partition 0 = T1 < T2 < . . . < TNT = T with constant step
size τ = Tt − Tt −1 for all t ∈ T \ {1}, where T := {1, . . . , NT }.
The power grid consisting of NB nodes denoted by B := {1, . . . , NB } and NE
transmission lines denoted by E ⊂ B × B, is described by an admittance matrix

Y = G + j B ∈ CNB ×NB
√ (1)
with G, B ∈ RNB ×NB and j = −1.

The admittance matrix is symmetric, i.e. Y = Y T , and furthermore Ylk = Ykl = 0 if

and only if there is a branch connecting node k and l, i.e., (k, l) ∈ E and (l, k) ∈ E.
Therefore, Y is a sparse matrix for most real world power grids.
The complex voltage at node k ∈ B for time step t ∈ T is given as the complex
number

Vkt = Ekt + j Fkt (2)

with real part Ekt ∈ R and imaginary part Fkt ∈ R. We define E t := [Ekt ]k∈B and
F t := [Fkt ]k∈B .
Moreover, we define the following sets, which number:

C := {1, . . . , NC } conventional power plants

R := {1, . . . , NR } renewable energy sources
S := {1, . . . , NS } storage facilities
LS := {1, . . . , NLS } load shedding possibilities
DC := {1, . . . , NDC } generators modelling DC lines
V := {1, . . . , NV } generators modelling import/export
44 N. Schween et al.

The resulting vector of variables corresponding to active power and energy for
time step t is given by
⎛ ⎞
[Pg,i
t
]i∈C
⎜ ⎟ (injected conventional power)
⎜ [Pr,i
t
]i∈R ⎟ (injected renewable power)
⎜ ⎟
⎜ [Psg,i
t ] ⎟ (injected storage power)
⎜ i∈S ⎟
⎜ [Psl,i
t ] ⎟ (extracted storage power)
⎜ i∈S ⎟
⎜ ⎟
⎜ [SOCi ]i∈S ⎟ (stored energy)
t
P =⎜
t
⎟ (3)
⎜ [Pl,i ]i∈LS
t ⎟ (load sheds)
⎜ ⎟
⎜ [Pdc+,i ]i∈DC ⎟
t
⎜ ⎟ (injected power by DC lines)
⎜ [Pdc−,i ]i∈DC ⎟
t
⎜ ⎟ (extracted power by DC lines)
⎜ ⎟
⎝ [Pex,i
t
]i∈V ⎠ (power export)
[Pim,i
t
]i∈V (power import)

with P t ∈ RNP .
In a similar way, the vector of reactive power injections is defined by
⎛ ⎞
[Qtg,i ]i∈C
⎜ ⎟
⎜ [Qtr,i ]i∈R ⎟
⎜ ⎟
Q =⎜
t
⎜ [Qtsg,i ]i∈S ⎟
⎟∈R .
NQ
(4)
⎜ [Qsl,i ]i∈S ⎠
t ⎟
⎝
[Qtl,i ]i∈LS

Every variable related to active and reactive power can be assigned to a specific node
of the power grid by means of the power injection and extraction matrices CP ∈
{−1, 0, 1}NB ×NP and CQ ∈ {−1, 0, 1}NB ×NQ [21, p.23]. Since the states of charge
(SOC) of storage facilities do not directly influence the power flow equations, the
corresponding rows in CP are equal to the zero vector.

2.1.1 Constraints

At first, we consider the equality constraints. We begin with the power flow
equations: Denoting the active and reactive power load for time step t by Ltp and
Ltq , respectively, and assigning the loads to the nodes with the help of the matrix
CL ∈ {0, 1}NB ×NL , the AC power flow equations are given by [22]

CP P t − CL Ltp − Pfp (E t , F t ) = 0 ∈ RNB , (5)

CQ Qt − CL Ltq − Pfq (E t , F t ) = 0 ∈ RNB , (6)

A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 45

where


NB
Pfp,k (E, F ) = Ek (Gkl El − Bkl Fl ) + Fk (Gkl Fl + Bkl El ),
l=1


NB
Pfq,k (E, F ) = Fk (Gkl El − Bkl Fl ) − Ek (Gkl Fl + Bkl El ),
l=1

which describe the sum of power flows at node k. Note that we dropped the index t
to improve readability.
In the following, we abbreviate the equations (5) and (6) with the help of the
following “symbolic” equation:

AC(E t , F t , P t , Qt ) = 0. (7)

Besides the power flow equations (7), one has to take into account an equality
constraint for the slack bus, given by F1t = 0 for all t, and for generators k, l ∈ DC
modelling a DC line kl:
t
Pdc+,k = −νDC Pdc−,l
t t
and Pdc+,l = −νDC Pdc−,k
t
. (8)

Here, line losses are taken into account by means of the factor νDC ∈ (0, 1).
Moreover, an additional set of equality constraints has to be imposed for
modelling the state of charge, SOCit , of storage facilities. These constraints are
given by

SOCit = SOCit −1 + τ (νl Psl,i

t
− νg−1 Psg,i
t
), for all i ∈ S (9)

with factors νl , νg ∈ (0, 1) describing the efficiency of the loading process Psl,i
t and
t
generation process Psg,i , respectively.
Secondly, we take a look at the inequality constraints. Due to technical restric-
tions arising from power plants, renewable energy sources, storage facilities and DC
transmission lines, it’s necessary to impose lower and upper bounds for active and
reactive power injections:
t
Pmin ≤ P t ≤ Pmax
t
and Qmin ≤ Qt ≤ Qmax . (10)

In our application the only bounds, which are time dependent, correspond to the
power injected by renewable energy sources, i.e. Prt . Also the node voltages and the
46 N. Schween et al.

active power flow over transmission lines, denoted by pkl , must be constrained:
2
Umin ≤ (E t )2 + (F t )2 ≤ Umax
2
(11)
pkl (Ekt , Elt , Fkt , Flt ) ≤ Pfmax,kl for all (k, l) ∈ E . (12)

Finally, we impose ramping constraints for conventional power plants to bound the
rate of change for injected power between consecutive time steps by

|Pgt − Pgt −1 | ≤ τ Pmax

t
α for all t ∈ T \ {1} . (13)

α is the ramping factor in percentage per unit time.

2.1.2 Cost Function

The cost function f accounts for expenditure and income related to active power
processes for the complete time interval [0, T ] and is composed of contributions
from each time step t ∈ T [5]:


NT
f (P ) = τft (P t ) (14)
t =1

with

t 2
ft (P t ) = (aC,i,2 (Pg,i ) + aC,i,1 Pg,i
t
)
i∈C

+ t 2
(aR,i,2 (Pr,i ) + aR,i,1 Pr,i
t
)
i∈R

+ t
(aex,i,2 (Pex,i )2 + aex,i,1 Pex,i
t
) (15)
i∈V

+ t
(aim,i,2 (Pim,i )2 + aim,i,1 Pim,i
t
)
i∈V

+ t 2
(aLS,i,2 (Pl,i ) + aLS,i,1 Pl,i
t
)
i∈LS

and coefficients a∗,∗,∗ ∈ R.

A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 47

2.1.3 Optimisation Problem

With the definitions of the previous sections at hand, the DOPF problem can be
stated in an abstract way:

min f (x) s.t.

x

gIt (x t ) = 0, for all t ∈ T

gSt (x t , x t −1 ) = 0, for all t ∈ T \ {1} (16)

htI (x t ) ≤ 0, for all t ∈ T

htR (x t , x t −1 ) ≤ 0, for all t ∈ T \ {1}

where the vector of optimisation variables is given by

x
  x,t
x = [x t ]t ∈T ∈ Rn and x t = E t F t P t Qt ∈ Rn . (17)

Moreover, we used and will use the following definitions: nx,t := 2NB + NP + NQ
and nx := NT nx,t and, as of now, let nλ,t be defined as the number of equality
λ,t
constraints corresponding to time step t, i.e. λt ∈ Rn with λt = (λtI , λtS ) denoting
the Lagrangian multipliers corresponding to gI and gSt , respectively. Analogously,
t
μ,t
μt = (μtI , μtR ) ∈ Rn denotes the Lagrangian multipliers for the inequality
constraints htI and htR . Consequently, we define nλ := NT nλ,t and nμ := NT nμ,t .
Note that the ramping constraints hR given by (13) and the storage constraints
gS given by (9) establish the only couplings between the variables corresponding to
different time steps. Without them, a solution to (16) could be obtained by solving
NT independent OPF problems. The optimisation problem (16) is non-linear due
to the AC equations and due to the voltage and line flow inequality constraints.1
Moreover, the latter ones and the AC equations are the sources of non-convexity
in (16).
To simplify the notation in the following sections, we abbreviate the optimisation
problem (16) to

min f (x) s.t. g(x) = 0, h(x) ≤ 0 (18)

x

with quadratic functions

x x λ x μ
f : Rn → R, g : Rn → Rn , h : Rn → Rn . (19)

1 We have not explicitly stated an equation for the power flow pkl through the transmission line
(k, l). Please refer to [13].
48 N. Schween et al.

3 Primal Dual Interior Point Method for DOPF

In this section, we briefly describe the application of the Primal Dual Interior
Point Method (PDIPM) to a DOPF problem. The description is in line with the
implementation found in the MATLAB package MATPOWER [21].

3.1 The PDIPM Algorithm

For the general optimisation problem (18), the corresponding Lagrangian function
is
x λ μ
L : Rn × Rn × Rn → R
(20)
(x, λ, μ) → f (x) + λT g(x) + μT h(x).

Assuming additional constraint qualifications, e.g., the linear independence

constraint qualification (LICQ) [14], for every local minimum x ∗ of (18), there exist
corresponding Lagrangian multipliers λ∗ , μ∗ such that (x ∗ , λ∗ , μ∗ ) are in accord
with the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions [5]:
⎛ ⎞
∇x L(x, λ, μ)
⎜ ⎟
⎜ g(x) ⎟
F0 (x, s, λ, μ) := ⎜ ⎟ = 0, s, μ ≥ 0, (21)
⎝ h(x) + s ⎠
Sμ

where s ∈ Rn is a vector containing slack variables and S ∈ Rn ×n denotes a

μ μ μ

diagonal matrix whose diagonal elements are Skk = sk .

The PDIPM is an algorithm to find solutions to Eq. (21). Mathematically it solves
a slightly modified version of this equation by applying to it Newton’s method.
The modification consists in adding a “term”, which decreases with iteration index
k. This term keeps the slack variables s away from zero and, thus, the inequality
constraints inactive. This means that solutions (x (k), s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) ) to this modified
version of Eq. (21) are inside the feasible region and not on its surface, hence, the
method is called interior point method. More rigorously formulated, we find
 T
Fγ (x, s, λ, μ) := F0 (x, s, λ, μ) − 0 0 0 γ e = 0,
(22)
s, μ ≥ 0,
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 49

for a sequence of barrier parameters

(μ(k−1) )T s (k−1)
γk := σ
nμ

where σ = 0.1 is the centering parameter and (μ(k−1))T s (k−1) is called comple-
μ
mentary gap. Additionally, e = (1, . . . , 1) ∈ Rn . For details we refer the inclined
reader to [5, 8] and [21].
Remark A very basic PDIPM is applied, i.e. there is no globalisation strategy.
Since we focus on parallel linear algebra techniques for DOPF problems, a locally
convergent algorithm is sufficient to our purpose.

3.2 KKT Matrix in PDIPM

The application of Newton’s method to Eq. (22) yields iterations in which the
following linear systems of equations must be solved:

∇Fγk (x (k) , s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )Δ(k) = −Fγk (x (k), s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) ) . (23)

Henceforth we omit the iteration index k. Assuming that s, μ > 0, the Newton
system (23) can be transformed into a reduced, symmetric saddle point form
& '& ' & '
∇xx
2 L + (∇h)T Σ(∇h) (∇g)T Δx r
=− x (24)
∇g 0 Δλ rλ
( )* + ( )* + ( )* +
=: A(x,s,λ,μ) =:ΔR =:b

 
μ1 μnμ
with diagonal matrix Σ = diag s1 , . . . , snμ and

 
rx = ∇x L + (∇h(x))T Z −1 γ e + diag(μ)h(x) ,
rλ = g(x) .

The KKT matrices A, arising in every PDIPM iteration k, may become more
and more ill-conditioned when a KKT point is approached. This is caused by
the sequence of scaling matrices Σ (k) . If strict complementary holds at the KKT
point x ∗ , if x (k) → x ∗ and if hi (x ∗ ) is an active inequality, one can show that
Σii(k) → ∞. On the other hand, Σii(k) → 0, if hi (x ∗ ) is inactive [14].2 For this
reason, many IPM software packages (like IPOPT [7]) use direct methods such as

2
50 N. Schween et al.

LDLT -factorizations to solve the appearing linear systems. These methods are less
sensitive to ill-conditioned matrices.
In contrast, iterative linear solvers like GMRES [15] are very sensitive to ill-
conditioned matrices. A good preconditioner is needed to lower the matrices’
condition numbers. In exchange, they offer a higher potential of parallelization and
allow the use of inexact Interior Point methods, see Sect. 3.3.
The distribution of the spectrum of a matrix K, defined as

σ (K) := {λ ∈ C, λ is an eigenvalue of K} ,

is an indicator of the convergence behaviour of GMRES applied to Kv = b. By

rule of thumb, a spectrum which is clustered away from 0 is beneficial to the rate of
convergence of GMRES. [11, Th. 4.62]
For general non-linear optimisation problems with the corresponding KKT
matrix
& '
H BT
, H ∈ Rn ×n , B ∈ Rn ×n , nλ ≤ nx ,
x x λ x
K= (25)
B 0

the so-called constraint preconditioner is an example of a preconditioner. It is given

by
& '
H̃ B T
K̃ = , (26)
B 0

with H̃ being an approximation to H , that is easy to factorize, e.g., H̃ = diag(H )

[14].
One can show that σ (K̃ −1 K) = {1} ∪ σ̃ with |σ̃ | = nx − nλ . Therefore, at most
n −nλ eigenvalues of K̃ −1 K are not equal to 1. The distribution of these remaining
x

eigenvalues depends on how well H̃ approximates H on the nullspace of B [10].3

In Sect. 4, we describe how to take advantage of the special structure given
by (16) to construct a parallel preconditioner. Furthermore, we will see that
there is a close relation between our proposed preconditioner and the constraint
preconditioner defined above, see Sect. 4.4.

Proof (sketch) The KKT conditions require that μ∗i (hi (x ∗ ) + si∗ ) = 0. If hi (x ∗ ) is active, then
hi (x ∗ ) = 0 and si∗ = 0. Upon strict complementarity follows that μ∗i = 0. Finally, if x (k) → x ∗ ,
(k)
∗ (k) ∗ μi
then μ(k) (k)
i → μi , si → si and Σii = (k) →∞ . 

si

3 Let Z denote the nullspace of B, i.e. BZ = 0. Then H̃ approximates B on its nullspace, if

(Z T H̃ Z)−1 (Z T H Z) ≈ 1.
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 51

3.3 Inexact PDIPM

In contrast to direct methods, iterative solvers allow solving linear systems with
prescribed accuracy. One can exploit this fact by means of inexact Interior Point
methods. Within these methods, the linear systems corresponding to the first PDIPM
iterations are solved with a rather low accuracy and therefore a low number of
iterations. As the PDIPM iterate approaches the exact solution, the accuracy of the
linear solver is increased. We use the approach from [3] for determining the accuracy
in each PDIPM iteration. Here, (23) has to be solved with residual r̃ (k) , i.e,

∇Fγk (x (k) , s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )Δ(k) = − Fγk (x (k), s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )
+ r̃ (k) ,

(k) T (k)
that satisfies r̃ (k) 2 ≤ η̃k (μ n)μ s with forcing sequence η̃k ∈ (0, 1). With this
choice, the update step Δ(k) satisfies

∇F0 (x (k) , s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )Δ(k) = − F0 (x (k) , s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )
+ r (k)

with r (k) 2 ≤ (γk + η̃k ) F0 (x (k), s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) ) 2 . Therefore, “γk + η̃k can be
viewed as forcing sequence of inexact Newton methods” [3]. In our numerical
experiments, we set η̃k = 0.1 for all k and computed the relative tolerance for
the iterative solver as follows
T
μ(k) s (k)
rtol (k)
= 0.1 μ .
n Fγk (x (k) , s (k) , λ(k) , μ(k) )

We stopped to decrease the relative tolerance when it reached a value smaller than
10−10.

3.4 Termination Criteria for PDIPM

We use the following criteria for monitoring the progress of PDIPM [21]:

max{ g(x) ∞ , maxi {hi (x)}}

cf eas (x, s, λ, μ) := (27)
1 + max{ x ∞ , s ∞ }
∇x L(x, λ, μ) ∞
cgrad (x, s, λ, μ) := (28)
1 + max{ λ ∞ , μ ∞ }
52 N. Schween et al.

(μT s)
ccomp (x, s, λ, μ) := (29)
1 + x ∞
|f (x) − f (x − )|
ccost (x, s, λ, μ) := (30)
1 + |f (x − )|

with x − denoting the previous iterate.

4 Schwarz Domain Decomposition Method for DOPF

The key idea behind Schwarz domain decomposition methods applied to DOPF
problems is the decomposition of the set of time steps T into several smaller subsets.
Due to this decomposition, it is possible to define corresponding submatrices of
the global KKT matrix defined in (24) that are smaller in size and therefore faster
to factorize. Furthermore, the factorization of these submatrices can be done in
parallel. After computing subsolutions corresponding to these submatrices, one can
reconstruct an approximate solution to the global system (24), which is used as
preconditioner within a Krylov-type iterative solver.
In Sect. 4.1 we introduce the mathematics, which describe the additive Schwarz
Method (ASM) in the context of DOPF problems. In Sect. 4.2 we briefly describe
some issues related to its implementation. Section 4.3 is intended to provide a
deeper insight into the subproblems that have to be solved when the ASM is
applied. Finally, we describe the relation between the ASM and the above mentioned
constraint preconditioner in Sect. 4.4.

4.1 Mathematical Formulation of the Additive Schwarz Method

For the application of the ASM as a preconditioner for the KKT matrix
A(x, s, λ, μ) ∈ R(n +n )×(n +n ) defined by (24), it is needed to decompose
x λ x λ

the set of time steps T = {1, . . . , NT } into q non-overlapping subdomains:

,
q
T= T̃l ,
l=1

with T̃l ∩ T̃k = ∅ for k = l and T̃l := {t˜l− , t˜l− + 1, . . . , t˜l+ } .

Afterward, each subdomain T̃l is expanded by additional sol time steps on both ends,
yielding an overlapping decomposition of T (see Fig. 1):

,
q
T= Tl , Tl := {tl− , tl− + 1, . . . , tl+ },
l=1
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 53

Fig. 1 Decomposition of time steps with overlap sol = 1

with
⎧ ⎧
⎨t˜− − s , l > 1 ⎨t˜+ + s , l<q
tl− tl+
ol ol
= l− , = l+
⎩t˜ , l=1 ⎩t˜ , l=q
l l

Typically, sol ∈ {1, 2, 3}.

Furthermore, we use the definitions of Sect. 2.1.3 to introduce

nxl := nx,t ,
t ∈Tl

nλl := nλ,t
t ∈Tl

nl := nxl + nλl ,
n := nx + nλ .

Henceforward, all expressions involving ˜ refer to the non-overlapping subdomains

T̃l .
When restricting the optimisation variables to the components, which belong to
Tl , we write

x[l] = [x t ]t ∈Tl and (31)

⎡& '⎤
 t λt
λ[l] = λ t ∈T = ⎣ tI ⎦ . (32)
l λS
t ∈Tl

The combination of x[l] and λ[l] yields the following definition:

& ' & '
Δx Δx[l]
ΔR [l] := := ∈ Rnl . (33)
Δλ Δλ[l]
[l]

This vector contains the components of the solution vector of (24) belonging to the
time steps in Tl . Moreover, let Rl ∈ {0, 1}nl ×n be a restriction matrix corresponding
54 N. Schween et al.

to the subset Tl defined by its action:

& ' & ' & '
Δx Δx Rlx 0
Rl = , where Rl = . (34)
Δλ Δλ 0 Rlλ
[l]

The matrices Rlx and Rlλ are composed of either zero or identity blocks. As an
example, consider the case of l = 1 and l = q:
 
0 ∈ {0, 1}nl ×n ,
x x
Rlx = 0 Inxl
  (35)
0 ∈ {0, 1}nl ×n .
λ λ
Rlλ = 0 Inλ
l

Note that the size of the zero matrices varies with each restriction matrix and
each l. Analogously, we define R̃l as restriction operator corresponding to the non-
overlapping subdomain T̃l .
With these definitions at hand, it is possible to extract submatrices Al from the
KKT matrix A by multiplying it with Rl :

Al := Rl ARlT . (36)

In Sect. 4.3, we explore the structure of these submatrices.

On the important assumption, that all submatrices Al are non-singular, we are
able to formulate the multiplicative Schwarz Method (MSM) for approximately
solving AΔR = b. We do this in the form of an algorithm [18]:

Algorithm 1 Multiplicative Schwarz method

Set Δ0R = 0
for l = 1, . . . , q do  
ΔlR = Δl−1 T −1 l−1
= Δl−1
R + Rl Al Rl b − AΔR R + δl
end for
q
Return ΔR

In every iteration l, the current error with respect to the exact solution ΔR , given by

el−1 = ΔR − Δl−1
R ,

satisfies

Ael−1 = r l−1 with residual vector r l−1 = b − AΔl−1

R .
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 55

By restricting r l−1 to subdomain Tl and solving with A−1

l , one obtains an
approximation

êl := A−1
l Rl r
l−1

to the exact error Rl el−1 on subdomain Tl . Prolongation with RlT yields a correction
δl = RlT êl to the current approximation Δl−1 R . Thus, the multiplicative Schwarz
method can be seen as “defect correction algorithm”.4
Unfortunately, the the MSM is a sequential algorithm. In order to parallelize it,
one omits residual updates in each iteration, yielding the ASM [18]:

q
Algorithm 2 Additive Schwarz method ΔR = ASM(b)
Set Δ0R = 0
for l = 1, . . . , q do
ΔlR = Δl−1 T −1
R + Rl Al Rl b
end for
q
Return ΔR

which can be written as


q
RlT A−1
q
ΔR = MASM b with MASM := l Rl .
l=1

The right preconditioned linear system for solving AΔR = b is then given by

AMASM u = b, ΔR = MASM u . (37)

Since MASM is symmetric but in general not positive definite, we use the Gen-
eralized Minimal Residual (GMRES) method for solving the non-symmetric sys-
tem (37). In general, the ASM computes a less accurate approximation to the
solution of AΔR = b and therefore needs an increased number of GMRES iterations
compared to the MSM given by Algorithm 1. However, the ASM offers a higher
potential of parallelization, which results usually in better parallel scaling.

4
In contrast
 to “classical defect correction” algorithms, there is no converging sequence
q
ΔlR → ΔR . Nonetheless, the algorithm’s construction implies that ΔR ≈ ΔR .
l∈N
56 N. Schween et al.

4.2 Implementation

In our implementation, we use one processor per subdomain Tl and distribute A

such that every processor stores R̃l A in its local memory. R̃l A contains the non-
overlapping portion of rows of Al = Rl ARlT .
To set up MASM once, every processor first has to form its local submatrix Al ,
i.e., in this step the overlapping part of Al has to be communicated to processor l by
processor l − 1 and l + 1. Afterward, each processor computes an LU -factorization
of Al , i.e., Al = Ll Ul . This step doesn’t involve any inter-processor communication
and can be done in parallel.
The employment of the ASM as a preconditioner inside the GMRES method,
requires to compute MASM v (k) in each iteration k. v (k) denotes the k-th basis vector
of the Krylov subspace Kk (AMASM , b). On the assumption that the basis vector’s
(k)
data layout is the same as the matrix’s one, i.e. every process stores vl := R̃l v (k) ,
communication with process l − 1 and l + 1 is required to multiply MASM with
v (k) .5 The computation of A−1
(k)
l vl is done by one forward substitution with Ll
and a backward substitution with U , respectively. This step does not involve any
communication. After this, the local solution A−1
(k)
l vl is prolonged back to obtain
the global result of the matrix vector product MASM v (k) . This again requires
(k)
communicating the overlapping part of vl to process l − 1 and l + 1. Finally, it’s
necessary to multiply A with MASM v (k) . Due to A’s data layout and its off-diagonal
elements, corresponding to intertemporal couplings, additional communication is
required.
One can further improve the performance of ASM by using the so-called
restricted version of ASM [4], which is given by


p
MrASM := R̃lT A−1
l Rl . (38)
l=1

(k)
For this preconditioner, just the non-overlapping part of the local solution vl is
prolonged instead of the entire (overlapping) vector. Experiments show a beneficial
behaviour in terms of GMRES iterations compared to standard ASM [4]. Further-
more, prolongation by R̃l doesn’t involve any communication.
To further stabilise the LU -factorization, a small regularisation parameter  =
10−8 is added to the KKT matrix A, i.e. A + I .

5 The reader may wonder why we have to make an assumption about the basis vectors’ data layout:

Our GMRES implementation is part of the external library PETSc and a quick glance at their
source code did not reveal to us how they manage the according data.
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 57

Fig. 2 Permuted KKT matrix A with NT = 12, sol = 1, q = 4 and Āl = Pl Al Pl T

4.3 Structure of Local KKT Matrices

In this section, we investigate the structure of the local submatrices Al defined in

Eq. (36). A good way to get an idea of their structure is to permute the KKT matrix
A in such a way that all rows and columns belonging to one time step are grouped
together. This yields a block diagonal matrix with some off-diagonal elements.
Every block represents one time step and the off-diagonal elements arise due to the
time-dependent constraints. Extracting the time steps belonging to the subdomain
Tl results in a permuted version of the submatrix Al .6 Its structure is exactly the
same as the one of the original KKT matrix A. If the off-diagonal elements are
taken into account as “boundary conditions”, it is possible to interpret the submatrix
Al as representing an optimisation problem in its own, i.e. the original dynamical
OPF problem is reduced to the subdomain Tl . Figure 2 tries to demonstrate this. As
a consequence the submatrices Al tend to be ill-conditioned.

6 Note that this extraction cannot be done by multiplying A with Rl and Rl T .

58 N. Schween et al.

4.4 Relationship Between the ASM and the Constraint

Preconditioner

To see a relation between the additive Schwarz method and the constraint precon-
ditioner, as introduced in Sect. 3.2, it is necessary to consider a dynamical OPF
problem without time-dependent equality constraints. In our case, we had to drop
the storage facilities gSt to do this. Furthermore, it is important to consider a non-
overlapping decomposition of the time domain, i.e. sol = 0. In this case, the
corresponding ASM preconditioner,


q
M̃ASM = R̃lT Ã−1
l R̃l , (where Ãl := R̃l AR̃lT ∈ Rñl ×ñl ) (39)
l=1

reduces to a block Jacobi method with omitted couplings between variables

belonging to t˜l+ and t˜l+1
−
for each subdomain l. Since there are only time-dependent
inequality constraints left, the coupling between the variables belonging to different
time steps has to arise in the (1, 1)-block of the KKT matrix, namely in the
(∇h)T Σ(∇h) part. This means that multiplying M̃ASM with b is like solving a
modified KKT system, or equivalently,
& '−1
H̃ (∇g)T
M̃ASM = . (40)
∇g 0

H̃ denotes the KKT matrix’s modified (1, 1)-block. Thus, M̃ASM has the form of a
constraint preconditioner.
At this point, it also becomes clear that the ASM can only be interpreted as
a constraint preconditioner, if there are no time-dependent equality constraints. If
there existed time-dependent equality constraints, the (2, 1)- and (1, 2)-block of
−1
M̃ASM would have changed too.
As pointed out in Sect. 3.2, 1 is an eigenvalue of M̃ASM A of multiplicity 2nλ and
the remaining nx −nλ eigenvalues are solutions of a generalized eigenvalue problem
of the following form [10]:
2
Z T (∇xx L + (∇h)T Σ(∇h))Zv = λZ T H̃ Zv . (41)
( )* +
=:H

For a low number of subdomains q, one can expect H̃ to be a good approximation

to H , leading to a clustered spectrum σ (M̃ASM A) close to one. However, the
more subdomains, the more neglected couplings and the less accurate does H̃
approximate H . This results in a more scattered eigenvalue distribution of M̃ASM A,
but still a large number of eigenvalues are equal to 1.
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 59

5 Numerical Experiments

In this section, we present some results for our proposed method applied to a DOPF
problem. In its first part, we discuss the parallel speedup of our solver. In the second
one, we investigate the way in which the KKT matrix’s spectrum σ (A) changes
with the iterations of the interior point method. The test grid, which we used for our
experiments, represents a possible variant of the German Transmission Grid in the
year 2023 and consists of 1215 nodes, 2247 AC lines, 8 DC lines, 181 conventional
power plants, 355 renewable energy sources and 67 storage facilities. For more
details, we refer the reader to [12].
For solving (16), we use the PDIPM algorithm mips which is written in MATLAB
code and part of MATPOWER [21]. In this algorithm, we replace the standard
MATLAB backslash operator \ for solving linear systems by our own linear solver.
Our solver applies a right preconditioned GMRES method. We use the ASM as
the preconditioner. For computing the LU -factorizations of the local systems Al ,
we use the software package Intel R
MKL PARDISO. Our solver is written in C++
and makes use of the KSPGMRES and PCASM methods provided by PETSc [2],
which is compiled in Release mode with the Intel compiler 17.0. The computation
of the eigenvalues of the KKT matrices and the preconditioned KKT matrices have
been done with SLEPc [9] and MATLAB. Inter-process communication is realised
by means of the Message Passing Interface (MPI). The numerical experiments were
carried out on the BwForCluster MLS&WISO Production at Heidelberg University
with two Intel Xeon E5-2630v3 processors i.e. 16 CPU cores at 2.4 GHz per node,
and 64 GB working memory.

5.1 Parallel Speedup

In our numerical experiments, we concatenated the 48 h load profile, which was part
of the described test grid, to obtain a test case comprising 48 days with a temporal
resolution of 1 h, i.e. NT = 960 time steps. This causes the linear system (24),
which has to be solved in every PDIPM iteration, to have the dimension nx + nλ ≈
6.168 · 106.
Furthermore, we set α = 0.4, which led to ramping constraints limiting
the change of power generation of conventional power plants by 40%/h of their
respective maximum power generation.
We set f eas = grad = cost = comp = 10−5 as PDIPM termination
criteria and limited the number of PDIPM iterations to 300. The number of GMRES
iterations was restricted to 1500. The GMRES method was allowed to restart after
300 iterations. Its relative residual tolerance rtol was determined as described in
Sect. 3.3.
The ASM method was not restricted and the overlap sol was set to 3 for all tests.
60 N. Schween et al.

Fig. 3 Speedup up to the 100

iteration on the x-axis for ASM: #2
different numbers of ASM: #16
processors
ASM: #64

Speedup sq (k)
ASM: #192
ASM: #320
10 LU: #16

2
1.5
10 20 30 40
PDIPM iteration k

The parallel speedup on q processors for the first k PDIPM iterations is defined
as sq (k) := TTq1 (k)
(k) . We computed the sequential reference time T1 (k) by solving
the linear systems (24) using a LU -factorization and adding up the times needed
to solve them up to the k-th PDIPM iteration. MKL PARDISO’s sequential LU -
factorization algorithm was applied.
Analogously, Tq (k) was obtained by adding up the times needed to solve the
same linear systems, but this time iteratively, i.e. the GMRES method and the
ASM were used. In Fig. 3 we plotted the results of our speedup computations for
different numbers of processors. The dashed graph represents the speedup obtained
when the KKT systems (24) are solved directly with MKL PARDISO’s parallel
implementation of the LU -factorization using 16 processors. For this amount of
processors we observed the best speedup.
Besides, we scaled the y-axis logarithmically to ease drawing a comparison with
the LU -solver and to emphasise the large speedups during the first iterations.7 We
observed for our proposed iterative solver, no matter the number of processors
q, a clear speedup in comparison with the LU -solver. The parallelization, due to
the ASM, shows its power during the first PDIPM iterations. Unfortunately, this
initial speedup decreases rapidly. After 40 iterations we end up with a total speedup
of five. This decrease is accompanied by an increase in GMRES iterations. To
demonstrate this, we plotted in Fig. 4 the number of GMRES iterations needed to
solve the KKT system at the k-th PDIPM iteration. The first thing to note is, that
the number of GMRES iterations does not only change with PDIPM iterations, but
also with the number of processors used to solve the KKT systems. It’s likely that
the increase in GMRES iterations with PDIPM iterations is caused by a change
in the spectrum of the original KKT matrix A. The increase with the number of

7 We remark that the PDIPM needed in most of the tested cases more than 40 iterations to converge,

yet, it converged after at most 45 iterations.

A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 61

Fig. 4 The number of

700
GMRES iterations needed to #2

# GMRES iterations
solve the KKT system 600 #16
corresponding to the PDIPM 500
iteration on the x-axis #64
400 #192
300 #320
200
100

10 20 30 40
PDIPM iteration k

processors can be explained as follows: The more proccesors we use, the smaller
the subproblems, described by Al , become and, hence, the more intertemporal
couplings are neglected, which reduces the “approximity” of MASM to A−1 . And
the closer MASM is to A−1 , the more the spectrum of the preconditioned operator
σ (AMASM ) is clustered around 1.
Before we start to actual investigate the spectrum of the matrices in the next part
of this section, we would like to summarise our findings. Even though we observed
a rapid decrease in the speedup, it was possible to obtain a moderate speedup with
only 16 processors and in comparison to a standard parallel LU -factorization also
using 16 processors, our solver was more than a factor 2 faster.

5.2 Eigenvalue Distribution

Since the GMRES method converges faster if the eigenvalues of matrix A are
clustered around 1, i.e. it needs less iterations, we would like to investigate how
much the ASM, applied as preconditioner, improves the eigenvalues’ distribution.
Therefore, we calculated the eigenvalues with the largest and smallest magnitude of
the KKT matrix A and the preconditioned KKT matrix AMASM , respectively. We
write λAmax = max{|λ| : λ ∈ σ (A)} and λmin = min{|λ| : λ ∈ σ (A)}. Seeing that it
A

takes very long to compute, or that it is even not possible to compute the eigenvalues
for the complete NT = 960 time steps, we decided to calculate them for NT = 96
time steps and for each PDIPM iteration. We set the overlap to sol = 1 and used
q = 32 subdomains. The results are presented in Fig. 5. The red lines depict the
development of λA A
max and λmin of the KKT matrix, respectively. Thus, they form
the limits for all possible magnitudes of eigenvalues corresponding to A. The latter
is indicated by the red shaded area. Analogously, the blue lines and the blue area
represent the spectrum of the preconditioned KKT matrix.
The spectrum of the preconditioned KKT matrix, is clustered around 1 in every
interior point method iteration. Looking at the magnified part of the graph shows
62 N. Schween et al.

Fig. 5 Variation of the 2

spectrum of the original KKT
matrix and the preconditioned
one 1

0.1
1015 A
l max
5 10 15 20 25

1010

105

l min/max
AM
l maxASM
1
AM
l min ASM
10−5 A
l min

10−10
10 20 30 40
# PDIPM iterations

AM
that λminASM becomes smaller between the 10-th and the 20-th iteration. This may
explain the increase in GMRES iterations observed in our numerical experiments
and plotted in Fig. 4.

6 Conclusion

In this work we proposed a way of solving linear systems arising from Dynamic
Optimal Power Flow (DOPF) problems in parallel by means of an overlapping
Schwarz domain decomposition method, namely the additive Schwarz method.
It was shown how to apply this method in the context of DOPF problems and
that the obtained submatrices correspond to localised formulations of a DOPF
problem with additional boundary conditions. Numerical tests on one large-scale
DOPF problem showed that the combination of the Generalized Minimal Residual
(GMRES) method and the Additive Schwarz Method (ASM) is able to solve DOPF
problems. Furthermore, we were able to show that this combination yields good
parallel speedup for some of the PDIPM iterations. And, in a small example, we
demonstrated that the ASM is a good preconditioner in the sense, that it clusters the
eigenvalues around 1.
Unfortunately, the proposed solver had problems with some of the KKT systems
arising in the large-scale DOPF problem. Therefore, it is necessary to improve it
and this will be one of our main goals in future work.
A Domain Decomposition Approach to Solve Dynamic Optimal Power Flow. . . 63

Acknowledgements This work was carried out with the financial support of the German Research
Foundation (DFG) within the project 242471205. Moreover, the authors acknowledge support by
the state of Baden-Württemberg through bwHPC and the German Research Foundation (DFG)
through grant INST 35/1134-1 FUGG.

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Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing,
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 Part II
Energy System Integration
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations
in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network

Eike Fokken, Simone Göttlich, and Oliver Kolb

Abstract We introduce a tool for simulation and optimization of gas pipeline

networks coupled to power grids by gas-to-power plants. The model under consid-
eration consists of the isentropic Euler equations to describe the gas flow coupled
to the AC powerflow equations. A compressor station is installed to control the
gas pressure such that certain bounds are satisfied. A numerical case study is
presented that showcases effects of fast changes in power demand on gas pipelines
and necessary operator actions.

Keywords Coupling of gas and power networks · Compressor stations · Optimal

control

Mathematics Subject Classification (2010) 76N15, 65M08, 49J20

1 Introduction

Renewable power sources have an ever increasing share of all power sources.
Though renewable energy has been developed in recent years with great success,
its intermittent and unpredictable nature raises the difficulty to balance the energy
production and consumption [6, 18]. A frequent proposal is to use gas turbine plants
to compensate for sudden drops in power of renewable sources because these plants
are relatively flexible in comparison to coal or nuclear plants. A welcome advantage
of this approach is the possibility to run gas plants with fuel produced from
renewable electricity via power-to-gas plants, thereby reducing or even negating
carbon emissions of the gas plants. For a review of power-to-gas capability see [6].

The authors gratefully thank the BMBF project ENets (05M18VMA) for the financial support.

E. Fokken () · S. Göttlich · O. Kolb

University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 67

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_5
68 E. Fokken et al.

It is desirable to have a joint optimal control framework for power and gas sector
of the energy system to model this compensation. So far only steady-state flow in
the gas network has been considered [3, 18, 20], which may be too coarse for several
applications. Therefore, we focus on an optimal control strategy for the instationary
gas network model [1] coupled to a power grid [2] via compressor stations, see for
example [8, 15, 17]. The mathematical foundation for the gas-to-power coupling
has been recently introduced in [5], where conditions for the well-posedness have
been derived and proved. This work is the first attempt to model this interaction
and yields an understanding of the underlying equations. The next step will be real-
world scenarios.

2 Optimal Control Problem

The gas dynamics within each pipeline of the considered gas networks are mod-
eled by the isentropic Euler equations, supplemented with suitable coupling and
boundary conditions. For the power grid, we apply the well-known powerflow
equations. The coupling between gas and power networks at gas-driven power
plants is modeled by (algebraic) demand-dependent gas consumption terms. To
react on the demand-dependent influences on the gas network, controllable devices
as compressor stations are considered within the gas network. The aim is to fulfill
given state restrictions like pressure bounds whereas at the same time the entire fuel
gas or power consumption of the compressor stations is to be minimized.
The network under consideration is similar to the one presented in [5] and is
depicted in Fig. 1. In addition, there is now a compressor with a time-dependent
control u(t), which is used to satisfy pressure bounds. The optimal control problem
is to minimize compressor costs while satisfying power demand and gas dynamics:

minu(t ) compressor costs

s.t. isentropic Euler equations (Sect. 2.1)
gas coupling conditions (Sect. 2.2)
compressor equation (Sect. 2.3)
powerflow equations (Sect. 2.4)
gas-power-coupling (Sect. 2.5)
pressure bounds.

Mathematically, this is an instationary nonlinear optimization problem con-

strained by partial differential equations, see [9] for an overview. To solve the
problem, we make use of a first-discretize-then-optimize approach and apply the
interior point solver IPOPT [16]. The necessary gradient information for IPOPT, i.e.,
gradients with respect to all controllable devices, is efficiently computed via adjoint
equations. Here, the underlying systems can be solved time-step-wise (backwards
in time), where additionally the sparsity structure is exploited.
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 69

N9

N1 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8

N3 N2

S4

S5 S0 S17 S20 S25

S8

Fig. 1 Gas network connected to a power grid. Red nodes are PQ/demand nodes, green nodes are
generators (PV nodes) and the blue node is the slack bus (also a generator, with gas consumption
of the form ε(P ) = a0 + a1 P + a2 P 2 ). The circle symbol indicates a compressor station

We remark that the cost function is given in Sect. 2.3, while the bounds on
the pressure are introduced as box constraints within the numerical optimization
procedure in Sect. 3. Within the Sects. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5, we now describe
the constraints of the optimal control problem in detail and focus on the technical
details.

2.1 The Isentropic Euler Equations

The gas network is modeled by the isentropic Euler equations (see [1, 4]), which
govern gas flow in each pipeline between nodes,
& ' & ' & '
ρ q 0
+ q2 = , (1)
q p(ρ) + ρ
S(ρ, q)
t x

where ρ is the density, q = ρv is the flow, p(ρ) = κρ γ is the pressure function. In

our example we use γ = 1 and κ = c2 = (340 ms )2 , that is, the isothermal Euler
equations with speed of sound c. The Euler equations must be met for 0 ≤ x ≤ le
70 E. Fokken et al.

and t ≥ 0, where le is the length of the pipe. Furthermore, S is a source term,

λ(q) q|q|
S(ρ, q) = − ,
2de ρ

where λ is the solution to the Prandtl-Colebrook formula,

& '
1 2.51 ke
√ = −2 log10 √ + .
λ Re(q) λ 3.71de

The Reynolds number Re is given by

de
Re(q) = q
η

with dynamic viscosity

kg
η = 10−5 .
ms
The roughness ke and diameter de of the pipes are all the same in our example and
given by

ke = 5 · 10−4 m,
de = 6 · 10−1 m.

2.2 Coupling at Gas Nodes

At the nodes we use the usual Kirchhoff-type coupling conditions: The pressure is
the same near the node in all pipes connected to it and the flows must add up to zero
(where the sign for inflow is positive, the sign for outflow negative),

ppipe = pnode , (2a)

 
qpipe = qpipe. (2b)
ingoing pipes outgoing pipes

The example gas network we are using is a small part of the GasLib-40
network [10]. In Table 1 the only remaining parameter, the length le of each pipe,
is gathered. Note that no length is given for the arc connecting S0 and S17, because
only a compressor is situated between these nodes.
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 71

Table 1 Parameters of the Pipe From To Length le [km]

gas network
P10 S4 S20 20.322
P20 S5 S0 20.635
P21 S17 S4 10.586
P22 S17 S8 10.452
P24 S8 S20 19.303
P25 S20 S25 66.037

2.3 Compressor Stations

To compensate for pressure losses in the gas network, we consider compressor

stations, which are also modelled as arcs. Those arcs have (time-dependent) in-
and outgoing pressure (pin , pout ) and flux values (qin, qout ). In general, the two
separate flux values allow the modelling of fuel gas consumption of the compressor
station, whereas we will consider an external power supply for the compressor and
therefore have qin = qout. The power consumption is modelled as a quadratic
function of the power required for the compression process. Denoting this as
function P (pin (t), qin (t), pout (t), qout (t)), our objective function in the optimal
control problem is of the form

-T
P (pin (t), qin (t), pout (t), qout (t))dt. (3)
0

Note that the power consumption does not influence the network dynamics and
is therefore only of interest for the optimization procedure. For our investigations
below it is sufficient to know that the consumption and therewith the costs increase
if the ratio pout /pin increases. For the details of the power consumption model, we
refer to [17, Section 3.2.3]. The influence of the compressor station on the network
dynamics is modelled by the control u(t) of the pressure difference:

pout (t) − pin (t) = u(t).

72 E. Fokken et al.

2.4 Power Model

For the power grid we use the AC powerflow equations (see [7] for an introduction),


N
. .
Pk = |Vk |.Vj . (Gkj cos(φk,j ) + Bkj sin(φk,j )),
j =1
(4)

N
. .
Qk = |Vk |.Vj . (Gkj sin(φk,j ) − Bkj cos(φk,j )),
k=1

where Pk , Qk are real and reactive power at node k,|Vk | is the voltage amplitude, φk
is the phase (and φk,j = φk − φj ) and Bkj , Gkj are parameters of the transmission
lines between nodes k and j or of the node k for Bkk and Gkk . Each node is either
the slack bus (in our case N1; V and φ given), a generator bus (N2 and N3; V and
P given) or a load bus (N4 through N9; P and Q given). All in all for N nodes we
get 2N equations for 2N variables.
The considered power grid is taken from the example “case9” of the MAT-
POWER Matlab programming suite [19]. A per-unit system is used, whose base
power and voltage are 100 MW and 345 kV respectively. The corresponding node
and transmission line parameters are gathered in Table 2, these are the entries of the
nodal admittance matrix (see [7]).

2.5 Coupling

The last ingredient is a model for converting gas to power at a gas power plant. In
our example, it will be situated between the nodes S4 and N1 and convert a gas flow
ε into a real power output P according to

ε(P ) = a0 + a1 P + a2 P 2 . (5)

The flow ε must be diverted from the pipeline network, hence the coupling condition
at node S4 must be changed to

pin = pout ,
(6)
qin = qout + ε .

The details of simulation of such a combined network and the treatment of all arising
mathematical issues can be found in [5]. We now showcase a concrete example.
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 73

Table 2 Parameters of the (a) Busses

power grid (p.u.)
Node G B
N1 0.0000 −17.3611
N2 0.0000 −16.0000
N3 0.0000 −17.0648
N4 3.3074 −39.3089
N5 3.2242 −15.8409
N6 2.4371 −32.1539
N7 2.7722 −23.3032
N8 2.8047 −35.4456
N9 2.5528 −17.3382
(b) Transmission lines
Edge From To G B
TL14 N1 N4 0.0000 17.3611
TL45 N4 N5 −1.9422 10.5107
TL56 N5 N6 −1.2820 5.5882
TL36 N3 N6 0.0000 17.0648
TL67 N6 N7 −1.1551 9.7843
TL78 N7 N8 −1.6171 13.6980
TL82 N8 N2 0.0000 16.0000
TL89 N8 N9 −1.1876 5.9751
TL94 N9 N4 −1.3652 11.6041

3 Numerical Results

3.1 Problem Setup

As already noted, we consider a small part of the GasLib-40 network from [2]
consisting of 7 pipelines with a total length of 152 km. This network is extended
by a compressor station and additionally connected to a power grid with 9 nodes
by a gas-to-power generator. For this coupled gas-power network, we simulate a
sudden increase in power demand within the power grid and study its effect on the
gas network. The considered compressor station is supposed to compensate part of
the pressure losses in the gas network such that a given pressure bound is satisfied
all the time, while power consumption of the compressor is minimized.
To complete the problem description, the following initial and boundary condi-
tions are given:
– P (t) and Q(t) at load nodes,
– P (t) and V (t) at generator nodes,
– V (t) and φ(t) at the slack bus,
– p(t) at S5,
– q(t) at S25,
– p(x, 0), q(x, 0) for all pipelines.
74 E. Fokken et al.

Table 3 Initial conditions of Node P Q |V | φ

the power grid (p.u.)
N1 – – 1 0
N2 163 – 1 –
N3 85 – 1 –
N4 0 0 – –
N5 −90 −30 – –
N6 0 0 – –
N7 −100 −35 – –
N8 0 0 – –
N9 −125 −50 – –

1.5
power [p.u.]

0.5
P demanded at N5
Q demanded at N5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time [hours]
2

1.5
power [p.u.]

0.5
P at slack
Q at slack
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time [hours]

Fig. 2 Power and reactive power at demand node N5 (above) and the slack bus (below)

More precisely, the initial conditions for the power network are given in Table 3.
These remain constant over time except for the power demand at node N5, which
changes linearly between t = 1 h and t = 1.5 h from 0.9 p.u. to 1.8 p.u. for the real
power and from 0.3 p.u. to 0.6 p.u. for the reactive power, see also Fig. 2.
For the gas network the incoming pressure at S5 is fixed at 60bar, the outflow
3 kg d2
at S25 is fixed at q = 100 ms · Aρ0e , where ρ0 = 0.785 m3 and Ae = π 4 . The
e

fuel consumption parameters we use in equation (5) are given by a0 = 2, a1 = 5,

Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 75

a2 = 10. Since the data for the considered gas and power networks are taken from
different sources, the parameters of the gas-to-power generator are chosen in such a
way that a significant influence is caused.
Further, the pressure at S25 is supposed to satisfy a lower pressure bound of
41bar, i.e.,

pS25 (t) ≥ 41bar

for all times t, where we consider a time horizon of T = 12 h.

As we will see below, the compressor station between nodes S0 and S17 will
have to run at a certain time, i.e., u(t) > 0, to keep this pressure bound. In general,
a solution to the described optimal control problem consists of the control u(t) and
the entire network state for all times t, i.e.,
– P (t), Q(t), V (t), φ(t) for all nodes in the power grid,
– p(x, t), q(x, t) for all pipelines in the gas network,
fulfilling the given model equations and the pressure constraint.

3.2 Discretization and Optimization Schemes

To solve the described optimal control problem, we follow a first-discretize-

then-optimize approach. The model equations of the power grid only require a
discretization in time, which means that the given boundary conditions and the
powerflow equations (4) hold for discrete times tj = j Δt with Δt = 15 min and
j ∈ {0, . . . , 48} in our scenario. The discretization of the isentropic Euler equations
within the pipelines of the gas network additionally requires a spatial grid (here
with grid sizes Δxe ≈ 1 km) and an appropriate discretization scheme. Here we
apply an implicit box scheme [14], which allows the application of large time steps
as Δt = 15 min for the considered spatial grid. Considering the isentropic Euler
equations as a system of balance laws of the form

yt + f (y)x = g(y),

the applied scheme reads

Yjn+1 n+1
−1 + Yj Yjn−1 + Yjn
=
2 2
Δt  
− f (Yjn+1 ) − f (Yjn+1
−1 )
Δx
g(Yjn+1 ) + g(Yjn+1
−1 )
+ Δt .
2
76 E. Fokken et al.

The numerical approximation of the balance law is thought in the following sense:
 
Yjn ≈ y(x, t) for x ∈ (j − 12 )Δx, (j + 12 )Δx ,
 
t ∈ nΔt, (n + 1)Δt .

Together with the algebraic equations modelling the compressor station and the
coupling and boundary conditions, the discretization process results in a system of
nonlinear equations for all state variables of the coupled gas-power network. For
simulation purposes, the entire discretized system is solved with Newton’s method.
Note that the system can be solved time-step per time-step and that we exploit the
sparsity structure of the underlying Jacobian matrices.
So far we can only compute the state of the considered gas-power network (for
a given compressor control u(t)) and evaluate quantities of interest like the power
consumption of the compressor station or the pressure constraint within the time
horizon of the simulation. For the given time discretization, the compressor costs (3)
are approximated by the trapezoidal rule and formally contained in J (u, y(u))
below. Next, we want to solve the (discretized) optimal control problem, i.e., to
find control values u(tj ) such that the pressure constraint is satisfied, while the
power consumption of the compressor is minimized. For this purpose, we apply
the interior point optimization code IPOPT [16] to the (reduced) discretized optimal
control problem. In addition to our simulation procedure to evaluate quantities of
interest for a given control, IPOPT further requires gradient information of those
quantities with respect to the control. Based on the considered discretization, such
information can be efficiently computed by an adjoint approach, which we briefly
describe in the following. Therefore, we consider the discretized optimal control
problem in the following abstract form:

min J (u, y(u))

s.t. u ∈ RNu , y ∈ RNy ,
model equations: E(u, y(u)) = 0,
constraints: g(u, y) ≥ 0.

The vector u contains all control variables (here the compressor control u(tj ) for
all times tj = j Δt ∈ [0, 24]) and y contains all state variables of the coupled gas-
power network of all time steps tj . The mapping u → y(u) is implicitly given by our
simulation procedure. Thus, IPOPT does not have to care about the model equations
formally summarized in E(u, y), but only about the further constraints g(u, y) and
minimizing the objective function J (u, y). Accordingly, we need to provide total
derivatives of J and g with respect to u.
In the following, we consider the computation of these derivatives only for the
objective function, since the procedure is identical for the constraints, and we follow
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 77

the description given in [12]. First of all, the chain rule yields
d ∂ ∂ d
J (u, y(u)) = J (u, y(u)) + J (u, y(u)) y(u). (7)
du ∂u ∂y du

While the partial derivatives of J with respect to u and y can be directly computed,
the derivatives of the states y with respect to the control u are only implicitly given.
Differentiating the model equations E(u, y(u)) = 0 yields

d ∂ ∂ d
0= E(u, y(u)) = E(u, y(u)) + E(u, y(u)) y(u)
du ∂u ∂y du

and therewith (formally)

/ 0−1
d ∂ ∂
y(u) = − E(u, y(u)) E(u, y(u)). (8)
du ∂y ∂u

Even though the partial derivatives on the right-hand-side of (8) can be directly
computed, one would have to solve Nu systems of linear equations here. Instead of
that, we insert (8) into (7) and get

d ∂
J (u, y(u)) = J (u, y(u))
du ∂u
/ 0−1
∂ ∂ ∂
− J (u, y(u)) E(u, y(u)) E(u, y(u)).
∂y ∂y ∂u
( )* +
=ξ T

With the so-called adjoint state ξ as the solution of the adjoint equation
/ 0T / 0T
∂ ∂
E(u, y(u)) ξ =− J (u, y(u)) , (9)
∂y ∂y

we finally have

d ∂ ∂
J (u, y(u)) = J (u, y(u)) + ξ T E(u, y(u)) . (10)
du ∂u ∂u
It is the fact that (9) is a single linear system and has a special structure, which
can be easily exploited (see for instance [11, 13]), which makes the computation of
derivatives via the presented adjoint approach very efficient. Nevertheless note that
for given control variables u one still has to solve the model equations to get y(u),
before one may compute the gradient information via (9) and (10).
78 E. Fokken et al.

3.3 Results

We first discuss the simulation with inactive compressor. In the course of the
simulation, due to the increase in power demand at node N5, the power demand
at the slack bus rises as well and leads to increased fuel demand at node S4. This
increases the inflow into the gas network, as can be seen in Fig. 3. Also the pressure
in the final node S25 decreases and violates the pressure bound after approximately
4 h, see Fig. 4.
After the optimization procedure, the compressor station compensates part of the
pressure losses in the gas network such that the pressure bound is satisfied all the
time. Since the power consumption of the compressor station is minimized within
the optimization, the pressure constraint is active after roughly 4 h (see again Fig. 4),
i.e., the compressor station applies as little as possible energy.

140

130
flow [ m3/s]

120

110 inflow at node S5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time [hours]
Fig. 3 Inflow at the node S5

lower pressure bound

44 compressor inactive
optimized result
pressure [bar]

42

40

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
time [hours]
Fig. 4 Pressure at the node S25
Optimal Control of Compressor Stations in a Coupled Gas-to-Power Network 79

4 Conclusion

The proposed optimization model allows to predict pressure transgressions within a

coupled gas-to-power framework. Simulation and optimization tasks are efficiently
solved by exploiting the underlying nonlinear problem structure while keeping the
full transient regime. This makes it possible to track bounds much more accurately
than with a steady state model, thereby achieving lower costs.

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Utilising Distributed Flexibilities
in the European Transmission Grid

Manuel Ruppert, Viktor Slednev, Rafael Finck, Armin Ardone,

and Wolf Fichtner

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the effect of distributed flexibilities on the

operation of the transmission grid. The flexibilities considered are heat pumps,
electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems and flexible renewable generation.
For this purpose, we develop a two-stage approach of first determining an optimal
electricity market solution considering the optimal dispatch of each generation
element and flexibility. In the second step we determine the required dispatch
adjustments due to transmission grid constraints and investigate the effect of
integrating battery energy storage systems into the adjustable generators to solve
congestions. In our case study, we investigate the central European transmission grid
for a scenario based on the Distributed Generation scenario of the Ten-Year Network
Development Plan for the year 2030. Integrating distributed flexibilities leads to a
strong increase in the security of supply, while the overall effect on the generation
adjustment is small. A comparison of the results for an AC and DC formulation
shows that both approaches differ significantly in individual cases.

Keywords AC optimal power flow · Battery energy storage systems · DC

optimal power flow · Distributed flexibilities · Distributed generation · Flexible
demand · Transmission grid

1 Introduction

Today’s change in the electricity system is driven by the decarbonisation initiative

developed to meet emission reduction targets defined in international agreements
in order to limit the global temperature increase. To reduce the carbon intensity
of the electricity generation, an increasing amount of electricity generation from
renewable sources (RES-E) is being installed throughout Europe. The two most

M. Ruppert () · V. Slednev · R. Finck · A. Ardone · W. Fichtner

Chair of Energy Economics, Institute for Industrial Production, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
(KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 81

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_6
82 M. Ruppert et al.

significant sources are wind and solar, both characterised by volatility and their
spatially distributed generation potential [1]. On the demand side, decarbonisation
efforts have begun to lead to an increased electrification in the heat and transporta-
tion sectors. In some countries, rapid market growth of such elements which can
be categorised as distributed flexibilities can be already be observed today. Future
energy scenarios hint towards a further increase of these developments until 2030.
With potentially high concurrencies of individual, decentralised demand patterns,
uncontrolled or market-driven operation of these flexibilities will increase local as
well as aggregated consumptions peaks in the power sector.
These changes pose significant challenges to the operation of the European
transmission grid. First, balancing supply and demand will require additional
flexibilities in a system dominated by distributed, intermittent RES-E and new
sources of electrical demand. Second, RES-E at a specific point in time will be
largely determined by the predominant meteorological conditions with high spatial
concentration, increasing average distance between generation and consumption
and thus increase the stress on the grid infrastructure. Lastly, market requirements
to create a cost-minimal dispatch might contradict those necessary to enable a
congestion-free transmission grid.
In the past, extensive research has been performed on different flexibility types
concerning the technologies, their modelling and their contribution to renewable
integration. A comprehensive overview on the current developments in electrical
energy storage technologies and their potential for application in power system
operation is given in [2] and [3]. Current reviews of different technological options
can be found for power-to-heat applications [4], residential photovoltaic-battery
energy storage (PV-BESS) [5], heat pumps (HP) in smart grids [6], and battery
electric vehicles (BEV) [7]. Most literature focuses on the local balancing of demand
and supply, either on a single household level or a community. This neglects the
implications on the grid level or focuses on the regional effects in micro grids while
including only a small set of technological options.
There are numerous models, which take into account flexibilities and simplified
transmission grid constraints. In most cases, these models have been developed
to analyse electricity markets, e.g. for investment decision support or operation
decision support. In most studies liberalised markets in the United States or
Europe are analysed and grid constraints are represented in a linearised way or
by import/export constraints between market zones. Hence, most techno-economic
models only take these constraints into account.
Few models, which consider flexibilities in a grid context take into account
the full AC formulation of transmission grid constraints. Besides the group of
studies and models, which consider a linearised form of grid constraints, some
models can integrate full AC constraints. However, they are limited to either a very
short time horizon or their focus lies on transient technical aspects like fault level
detection, transient stability, harmonic analysis, reliability and power flow. Another
group of models takes into account many flexibilities and AC restrictions but
only on a distribution grid level, thus limiting system size and thereby complexity
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 83

significantly [8]. A comprehensive overview on modelling approaches and their

consideration of the grid can be found in [9].
Another area where transmission constraints are explicitly considered is the
co-optimisation of transmission and generation capacities. The complexity of the
resulting problem forces modellers to apply linearised transmission grid constraints
or reduce the number of modelled flexibilities [10]. Furthermore, such models
are often only validated on small scale or test grids, making it difficult to assess
their suitability for large real-world power grids [11]. In most cases, the focus
lies on investment decisions rather than on utilising operational flexibility in future
transmission systems. [12] provide an overview of requirements and approaches to
address this problem.
In this paper, we present a modelling framework to investigate the effect of
distributed flexibilities on the transmission grid operation and investigate the benefit
of utilising distributed flexibilities to reduce grid congestion while taking into
account the full AC model of the transmission grid.

2 Modelling the Interaction of Market and Grid Operation

In order to model today’s interaction between the electricity market and transmis-
sion grid operation, we developed a two-step approach to model market and grid
operation. In the first step, we use a linear optimisation approach to determine the
minimal-cost, copperplate-based results of the interconnected electricity market. In
the second step, we determine the required dispatch adjustments due to congestion
in the transmission grid using a multi-period nonlinear optimisation model. In the
following section, the general modelling of the electricity market is described,
followed by the integration of distributed flexibilities and the application of the
method for modelling the transmission grid operation.

2.1 Electricity Market

To model the interconnected electricity market consisting of multiple market areas,

we use a linear optimisation approach with the objective function of minimal
total annual system cost under the assumptions of perfect foresight and perfect
competition.1 The system cost consist of the aggregated variable cost of electricity

1 A representation of the electricity market using an optimisation approach with cost minimisation

objective function and perfect foresight does not necessarily allow for a realistic representation of
market prices, as scarcitiy rents cannot be considered. As the market model is first and foremost
utilised to obtain dispatch results for the transmission grid simulation in our application, using the
described approach is a reasonable simplification for this purpose.
84 M. Ruppert et al.

production Cg for the electricity generation pg,t of generator g in time step t and
LS of demand d in
the cost of load shedding CLS for the amount of load shedding pd,t
time step t.
 
min Cg ∗ pg,t + CLS ∗ pd,t
LS
Pg,t ,Pd,t
g∈G,t ∈T d∈D,t ∈T

In every market area m, the electricity demand Pd,t in every time step must be
balanced out against generation, load shedding (LS) and interconnector flows into
the market area pc,t .
   
pg,t + LS
pd,t + pc,t = Pd,t ∀ m ∈ M, t ∈ T
g∈GM d∈D M c∈I C M d∈D M

The bounds of each generator are determined by the minimum capacity Pg,t min and
max
maximum capacity Pg,t of the respective generating unit. While the boundaries
of conventional generation are determined by the technical parameters of the
generator, the boundaries of RES-E are determined by the available generation due
to the intermittent nature. Available interconnection flows between market areas
are restricted by the available exchange capacity Pcmin , Pcmax . In order to ensure
feasibility of the problem, LS up to total demand can be performed at each time
step.
min
Pg,t ≤ pg,t ≤ Pg,t
max
∀g ∈ G, t ∈ T

Pcmin ≤ pc,t ≤ Pcmax ∀c ∈ I C, t ∈ T

0 ≤ pd,t
LS
≤ Pd,t ∀d ∈ D, t ∈ T

2.2 Modelling Flexibilities

In the following, we apply a set of general equations to model various types

of time-coupled flexibilities, ranging from different power storage technologies
to consumption and renewable flexibilities. Ignoring self-discharging losses, the
energy level vs,t of a storage s ∈ S at time step t ∈ T = {1, . . . NT } equals its
in or outflow ζ out and the sum of charged
previous level, the external power inflow ζs,t s,t
and discharged power provided by connected generators pg,t ∈ GS ⊆ G:
 
vs,t = vs,t −1 + pg,t ∗ ηg − pg,t /ηg + ζs,t
in
−ζ out
s,t
g∈GinS g∈GoutS

∀s ∈ S, t ∈ T
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 85

For a simpler notation, the set of storage-connected generators GS is split such

that Gout S denotes those generators supplying power to the electricity system by
discharging a storage and GinS vice versa (charging of a storage). The charging
and discharging efficiency is denoted by ηg . Furthermore, all variables might be
restricted to lower and upper bounds and the starting condition for the storage is
either a coupling of the first and last time steps or the definition of an initial storage
level:
min
Vs,t ≤ vs,t ≤ Vs,t
max
∀s ∈ S, t ∈ T

min
Pg,t ≤ pg,t ≤ Pg,t
max
∀g ∈ G, t ∈ T

Zmin
t ≤ ζs,t ≤ Zmax
t ∀s ∈ S, t ∈ T

vs,o = vs,NT ∨ vs,o = Vsst art ∀s ∈ S

2.3 Storage Technologies

Modelling the flexibility provided by actual storage technologies S S ⊆ S based

on the equations shown above is straightforward and could easily be applied to
hydro storages and batteries. Pure hydro pump storages and large-scale battery
systems allow a rather simple definition of variable bounds. Storage volumes and
generator capacities are non-negative and time independent, so that the equations
for the energy level and power output can be reformulated.

0 ≤ vs,t ≤ Vsmax ∀s ∈ S S , t ∈ T
s
0 ≤ pg,t ≤ Pgmax ∀g ∈ GinS , t ∈ T
s
0 ≤ pg,t ≤ Pgmax ∀g ∈ Gout S , t ∈ T

While large-scale battery systems allow to ignore external power inflow and
outflow, which do not result from indirectly connected generators or consumption,
this is only true for non-cascading pump storage systems. However, we will ignore
the case of cascading systems in the following and refer to the description of its
modelling [13]. Including a time series of natural inflow and the restriction of a
potential minimal outflow, allows for modelling mixed-hydro pump storages and/or
pure seasonal storages, with an empty set GinS in the last case.2

2 In case of missing data for modelling seasonal storages, such as the actual volume or the inflow

time series, it might be modelled as described in Sect. 2.5.

86 M. Ruppert et al.

Concerning small scale batteries, such as BESS combined with a PV system,

the mathematical modelling is identical to large-scale battery systems, as long
as no further restrictions apply to the battery utilisation. In practical application,
however, regulators might apply specific restrictions for the operation of such
systems. In Germany, for example, a widely used support scheme for PV-BESS
is limiting the grid feed-in up to 50% of the PV capacity.3 Given a demand
Pd,t and a maximum grid feed-in Pglim , these restriction might be easily imple-
mented:
  
(p g,t − Pg,t
lim
)+ pg,t ≤ Pd,t
s s d∈D s
g∈GP V g∈GoutS

∀s ∈ S P V BESS , t ∈ T

2.4 Demand Flexibilities

In general, consumption processes with the ability to store energy can be directly
modelled as single storages. Under the assumption that a certain share of a specific
load might be shifted within a certain time range, the storage restrictions, however,
might be applied to a broader range of demand flexibilities or for modelling the
flexible potential of aggregated loads. Considering our target to model the impact
of demand flexibilities at high and extra high voltage levels, we focus on modelling
the flexibility for large-scale consumption process or of aggregated loads as storages
S L ⊆ S. When looking at the load shifting potential of an EV fleet, aggregation
allows to neglect technical restrictions of single units and to derive the load shifting
potential from the specific load profile [14]. This finding is supported by [15] where
an aggregated modelling of BEV as flexible loads led to almost the same results in a
unit commitment problem as their individual representation, after the BEVs where
clustered accordingly.
Therefore, we model the demand flexibility of utility scale HP and the aggre-
gation of numerous BEV and household heat pumps (HH-HP) by defining certain
f lex
share α of a specific load Pd,t as flexible Pd,t = α f lex ∗ Pd,t and adjust the
f lex
general equations based on the load profile in a way such that Pd,t might be
shifted within a specific time interval. Given a segmentation of the time interval
T = {T T 1 , . . . , T T M } into M subsets, the storage equation might be reduced by

3 KfW-Kredit 275-Erneuerbare Energien-Speicher, from https://www.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/

Unternehmen/EnergieUmwelt/F%C3%B6rderprodukte/Erneuerbare-Energien-%E2%80%93-
Speicher-(275)
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 87

neglecting the variables for storage inflow and discharge:


vs,t = vs,t −1 + pg,t ∗ ηg − ζs,t
out
∀s ∈ S L , t ∈ T \1
s
g∈GinS

By restricting the storage outflow to the flexible demand profile

 f lex
s,t ≤ ζs,t ≤ Zs,t =
Zmin Pd,t ∀s ∈ S L , t ∈ T
out max

d∈D s

We define that the flexible demand either directly translates to a system load or is
stored. In case that load shedding is not allowed, Zmin max
s,t equals Zs,t . Assuming that
the energy of a flexible demand profile has to be consumed within a time interval
T T m , the bounds of the storage volume are defined by the integral of the profile
over T T m and equal zeros in the last time step.
1
0 if t = max{T T m }
V s,t = −Vs,t = 
max min  f lex
t ∈T T m d∈D s Pd,t else

∀s ∈ S L , m = 1 . . . M, t ∈ T

Concerning the bounds for the storage discharge, the minimal or maximal values
of the profile time series within the certain time interval T T m or the whole time
horizon can be used.

= min{ max α + ∗ Pd,t

f lex f lex
max
Pd,t , max Pd,t }
t ∈T T m t ∈T

= max{ min α − ∗ Pd,t

min f lex
Pd,t , 0}
t ∈T T m

∀d ∈ D s , m = 1 . . . M, t ∈ T

In order to model the specific flexible demand technologies, only the definition of
the time intervals as well as α f lex , α + , α − have to be adjusted, where α + and α −
are scaling parameters within the range of zero and infinity.

2.5 Renewable Flexibilities

Given a generation profile, a flexible operation of RES technologies, which depend

on a storable resource, such as hydro- or bioenergy, might be modelled analogously
to the case of flexible demand. This might be useful in cases where the actual storage
parameters are unknown or for modelling virtual power plants, comprising multiple
small units. The general idea is to model the flexibility by enabling a shift of the
initial generation profile within a certain time interval. If a certain share α of the
88 M. Ruppert et al.

renewable generation is based on stored energy, we first split the generation variable
into a flexible and inflexible part:

inf lex f lex

min
Pg,t ≤ pg,t + pg,t ≤ Pg,t
max

f lex f lex
pg,t ≤ α f lex ∗ Pg,t
max
= Pg,t

Just like in the case of flexible demand, we assume that the flexible generation might
be shifted within a specific time interval T = {T T 1 , . . . , T T M }. In consequence,
the flexible operation might be expressed by modifying the general storage equation:
 f lex
vs,t = vs,t −1 − pg,t /ηg + ζs,t
in
s
g∈GoutS

∀s ∈ S R , t ∈ T \1

S R defines the set of storages used to model the generation shift flexibility of
renewables. By restricting the storage inflow to the flexible generation profile
 f lex
s,t ≤ ζs,t ≤ Zt
Zmin =
in max
Pg,t
s
g∈GoutS

We define that the flexible renewable generation is either directly feed-in or stored.
In case that dumping the flexible renewable generation is not allowed, Zmin s,t equals
Zmax
s,t . Assuming that the energy of a flexible renewable generation profile has to be
fed in within a time interval T T m , the bounds of the storage volume are defined by
the integral of the profile over T T m and equal zero in the last time step.
1
0 if t = max{T T m }
s,t = −Vs,t =
V max min   f lex
g∈GoutS Pg,t else
s
t ∈T T m

∀s ∈ S R , m = 1 . . . M, t ∈ T

Concerning the bounds for the storage discharge, the minimal or maximal values
of the profile time series within the certain time interval T T m or the whole time
horizon can be used.

= min{ max α + ∗ Pg,t

f lex f lex
max
Pg,t , max Pg,t }
t ∈T T m t ∈T

= max{ min α − ∗ Pg,t

min f lex
Pg,t , 0}
t ∈T T m

s
∀g ∈ Gout S , t ∈ T
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 89

In order to model the specific flexible renewable technologies, only the definition of
the time intervals and α f lex , α + , α − has to be adjusted.

2.6 Grid Operation

Based on the dispatch result for each generation unit and time step from the market
model, we determine the necessary dispatch adjustment due to grid constraints in
the second step using a nonlinear optimisation approach. As a conventional cost
minimising objective function under consideration of grid constraints would lead to
a nodal pricing result, which would discard the dispatch determined by the market,
we establish the minimum amount of dispatch adjustment in the entire network
as the optimisation objective and evaluation figure to assess the efficiency in the
transmission grid. Therefore, the generalised objective function can be formulated
as follows:
 . . 
min .pg,t . + LS
pd,t
LS
p g,t ,pd,t g∈G,t ∈T d∈D

Positive and negative deviation of generation units from the base solution Pg,t are
considered equivalently towards the objective, while grid-induced load shedding
LS
Pd,t is unidirectional by definition.
We solve the resulting optimisation problem with a multi-period nonlinear
formulation of the ACOPF utilising an augmented Lagrangian formulation for
coupling of time-dependent storage units as described in [16]. In order to eliminate
the possibility of results representing significantly suboptimal solutions caused
by converging into local optima due to the nonlinear nature of the problem, we
benchmark our results with a DCOPF formulation, as described in [17].

3 Case Study

In the following, we apply the presented modelling approach on a scenario derived

from the scenario “Distributed Generation” (DG) of the European Network of
Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) Ten-Year Network
Development Plan (TYNDP) 2016. In our study, we restrict the scope of both
electricity market and grid to the central European countries and their transmission
networks, thus not considering the effect of flows from further interconnected
countries. The considered area contains the countries France, Belgium, Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Luxembourg. These
countries form individual market areas, with the exception of Germany and
Luxembourg, which form a common market area.
90 M. Ruppert et al.

In addition to the scenario data from the DG scenario, the closely related high
renewables scenario C of the german network development plan 2030 was used
for Germany due to the fact that this source includes data with a higher level of
detail. Based on the projected national RES capacity development of the scenario
an optimal allocation planning model as described in [18] was run in the first
step for regionalisation. In detail, a cost optimal expansion planning with a high
spatial resolution until 2050 is performed, considering national and regional lower
and upper bounds for the development of single renewable technologies. Due to
the longer optimization horizon, exceeding the forecast horizon of the underlying
scenarios, a minimal RES-E share on the demand is defined in the later years, such
that an 80% renewable share is achieved in Europe until 2050.
In the second step, the capacity adequacy is analysed based on a Monte-
Carlo simulation of the generation availability. Based on an integrated European
approach, accounting for a cross-border balancing, and the availability of a flexible
demand shift (BEV and heap pumps in households and district heating) and flexible
renewables (hydro storage and biomass) we computed the needed dispatchable
capacity.4 Afterwards we utilised results obtained from a generation expansion
planning problem of the European power system in order to meet the calculated
capacity demand for a secure operation of the system [19].
In the current scenario, we assumed that existing power plants are decommis-
sioned at the end of their technical lifetime. For coal-fired power plants, a premature
decommissioning pathway until 2040 is assumed and individually adjusted for each
unit with regard to its technical parameters and national regulations, aligned as
much as possible with the political guidelines on coal phase out known today. The
portfolio of hydro power plants with storage or pump-storage capability is based
on today’s generation and announced construction or expansion projects under the
assumption, that generators reaching the end of their lifetime are replaced with the
same parameters.
In the presented case study, 555 existing or currently projected and 145 new built
thermal power plants and 110 hydro power plants are operational in the scenario
in 2030. The resulting thermal, hydro pump and hydro turbine capacity and the
location of their connection to the transmission grid are shown in Fig. 1.
The case study year with input data for transmission grid as well as generation
and demand is chosen as 2030 and the simulations are performed with an hourly
time granularity. For the transmission grid part, a weekly optimization horizon of
transmission grid without rolling horizon was chosen. For this, storage states of each
unit at start and end time were fixed to the state given by the previously determined
state after market-based dispatch.

4 The results showed a mismatch between the calculated adequate capacity and the capacity in the

scenario, which was significantly lower in some countries. The missing DSM modelling might
explain some part of the mismatch.
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 91

Fig. 1 Installed capacity per fuel type at the transmission grid substations. The circle volume is
proportional of the legends circle volume of 2 GW

3.1 Transmission Grid Model

The transmission grid model contains the interconnected AC network of the same
countries considered on the market side, including overhead lines and cables of
voltage levels above 200 kV. For the studied area, this includes the nominal voltage
levels of 220 and 380 kV. Additionally, high voltage DC (HVDC) lines are included
in the dataset. HVDC lines connecting offshore wind generation are considered at
the point of RES-E calculation and allocation and subsequently reduced from the
dataset. All AC and HVDC lines are connected to busbars, which are assigned to
georeferenced substations. The number of busbars at each substation is limited to
the number of voltage levels present at the respective substation. In addition to the
transformation between the extra high voltage levels, the transformation to the high
voltage levels between 60 and 150 kV is considered and used for the connection of
small-scale generation and demand as described in [18].
The data include the present state of the transmission grid as well as projected
expansion measures in terms of deconstruction, replacement and construction of
substations, busbars, lines and transformers until the year 2030. The technical data
for each grid element was derived from publicly available sources whenever possible
and otherwise approximated based on available information from predominant
comparable equipment in the same geographical and organisational area. Among the
sources used for completing the dataset are the static grid models of the transmission
92 M. Ruppert et al.

grid operators of the Central Western Europe Region (CWE), as well as the grid
dataset of the TYNDP 2016 and Open Street Map (OSM). The future expansion
of the national grid networks was obtained from various sources such as national
network development plans of the respective grid operators and the projects listed
in the TYNDP 2016. The model represents a snapshot of the projected grid topology
in 2030 and includes a total of 3010 busbars, distributed over 1513 substations. The
busbars are connected by 4103 AC lines and transformers, as well as six HVDC
lines, with the exception of the interconnector between Belgium and Germany being
located in the German market area. Furthermore, 237 reactive power compensation
elements are located in the entire system, with either positive or negative reactive
power provision. The snapshot of the transmission grid topology for 2030 is shown
in Fig. 2.
The interconnection capacities between market areas are determined based on
the available thermal capacities of interconnecting lines from the transmission grid
dataset, assuming that 40% of the total thermal capacity of interconnecting AC
lines between the market areas and the full thermal capacity of interconnection
HVDC lines is being made available for market operation. Generators from non-
intermittent sources are assumed to have reactive power provision capabilities of
cosϕ = 0.925 w.r.t the installed generator capacity. Furthermore, RES-E with a
nodal distribution of installed capacity as shown in Fig. 3 is assumed to be able to

Fig. 2 Map of the transmission 2030 used in the case study. Red denotes 380 kV lines, green
220 kV lines and purple HVDC lines
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 93

Fig. 3 Installed renewable capacity per type at the transmission grid substations. The circle
volume is proportional to the legends circle volume of 2 GW

provide reactive power up to a level of cosϕ = 0.95 for all sources of renewable
energy. With regard to the reactive power consumption, the reactive power demand
in every market area and of every demand type is assumed to remain constant over
time with a lagging power factor of cosϕ = 0.95. The maximum voltage deviation
from nominal voltage is restricted to ±10% and grid components can be utilised up
to their continuous thermal current restriction.

3.2 Parameters for Flexibility Modelling

Considering the modelling of new consumers, their flexibility and their regionalisa-
tion the following assumptions were made:

3.2.1 Heat Pumps in Households

The modelling of electricity consumed due to heat demand in households from

HPs follows the approach of the Munich City Utilities (SMW) for calculating
the standard load profile of HPs within their grid, based on the yearly household
load and the temperature. Assuming  a full flexibility (α
f lex = 1, α+ =
−
1, α = 0) within a 3 h horizon ( 00 : 00 − 03 : 00) , 03 : 00 − 06 : 00) , . . . .),
94 M. Ruppert et al.

the regionalisation follows the same approach as that of the household demand,
restricted to single and two family buildings.

3.2.2 Heat Pumps in District Heating

We apply the same approach for modelling the generation profile and its flexibility
as it is the case for HH-HP. Due to the availability of a heating grid and the
possibility
 to store larger amounts of energy, a full flexibility within a 24 h horizon
00 : 00 − 24 : 00) is assumed. The regionalisation is in general based on the
capacity of combined heat and power (CHP) units within a country. In Germany
furthermore the data of the German District Heating Association (AGFW) for the
actual district heating grids demand and location where combined with the CHP
database for a more detailed analysis.

3.2.3 BEV PBEV

Profiles are based on [14, 20] for a direct charging at arrival and adjusted based on
Table 1.
The regionalisation corresponds to that of the household demand in all European
countries except of Germany, where the vehicle registration numbers at NUTS 3
level were used as a distribution key instead of household number and electricity
demand. Concerning the flexibility, we assumed the potential to shift the full
demand (α f lex = 1, α + = 1, α − = 0) within a 12 h horizon either during
the day or the night ( 06 : 00 − 18 : 00) , 18 : 00 : −06 : 00).

3.2.4 PV-BESS

In the current analysis, decentral BESS installed with PV on household level are
modelled as simple battery storages and differ only in their sizing and regionaliza-
tion from classical battery storages. Based on a linear relation between household
demand and self-optimised PV-BESS capacity, obtained from a mixed integer
optimization of PV-BESS sizing of households [21] in northern Germany and

Table 1 BEV parameter set

Charging at Charging at Mean distance Demand
home [kW] work [kW] Range [km] [km/a] [kWh/100 km]
2020 3,5 0 200 13.073 22
2030 5 5 300 13.071 22
2040 7 7 400 13.364 22
2050 11 11 400 13.481 22
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 95

southern Germany, an upper bound for the regional distribution of PV-BESS is

calculated. By adjusting the BESS capacity according to the actual installed rooftop
PV smaller 15kWp in single and two family buildings, the key for the final PV-BESS
distribution is computed.

3.2.5 RES-E Flexibilities

For the flexibility of hydro storage and biomass generation we assumed α f lex =
0.5, α + = inf , α − = 0, meaning that half of the generation profile is assumed to
be flexible and restricted to the maximum value of the total time series of the flexible
part. Furthermore, the potential to shift the generation within 24 h was assumed in
case of biomass and of 168 h in case of hydro storage.

4 Results

4.1 Scenarios

In the following, we will present the results obtained from the simulations performed
with the input dataset described above. The results are presented for four scenarios,
which differ due to the amount of utilisation of the flexibilities both on the market
and the transmission grid side. In this, we divide the available flexibilities into
traditional flexible generation from hydro storage and into distributed flexibilities
(HP, BEV, BESS, RES-E flexibilities) In the Base scenario, distributed flexibilities
remain static according to their inelastic profile and time-dependent generation is
not available for adjustment during grid operation. Thus, only hydro flexibilities
are being utilised in the market operation and are subsequently fixed during the
second step of grid operation simulation. The NoFlex scenario extends the Base
scenario by adding hydro flexibilities to the available measures while resolving
transmission grid congestion, keeping distributed flexibilities inelastic. The Flex
scenario represents a further flexibilisation, with distributed flexibilities included
in the market operation as described in Sects. 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 Lastly, in the
DynFlex scenario the available BESS capacities after the market dispatch are added
to the available adjustments during grid operation, increasing the number of storage
units considered in the grid operation by 896 nodal distributed elements.

4.2 The Impact of Distributed Flexibilities

The yearly aggregated results are shown in Fig. 4. Transmission lines which
reach their continuous thermal current limit during the time horizon are colored
96 M. Ruppert et al.

Fig. 4 Hours with maximum loading of transmission grid lines and average dispatch adjustment
per type. The circle volume is proportional to the legends circle volume of 500 MW

according to the number of hours where this occurs, marking overloaded lines which
require adjustments in the generation and demand dispatch in order to resolve the
congestion. Congestions on the transformation level and voltage boundaries are
omitted from Fig. 4. The highest number of fully loaded hours is found on the
HVDC lines, implying that the start and end locations of these lines are generally
well suited for relieving the stress on the AC grid. In the AC grid, areas with
significant congestion can be found in Southern France, the border of France and
Belgium, Northern Germany and the border area of Poland, the Czech Republic
and Austria. Generally, the required decrease in generation at certain locations is
reached by renewable curtailment rather than power decrease of thermal power
plants. A trend of required power reduction in the southern part of the network
can be observed over the entire year, while power increase is more focussed in the
northern and eastern areas. When interpreting the results, possible discrepancies
between the generation and demand scenario on the one hand and the grid model on
the other hand have to be considered. For example, the grid expansion considered
based on the TYNDP in France is significantly lower than the evolution of the grid
in Germany in the time frame between today and 2030. Thus, the increase of both
RES-E and new electricity demand types has an higher impact on a system that does
not undergo a significant transformation.
The impact of the utilisation of distributed flexibilities on the security of supply
can be seen in the reduction of the required load shedding in Table 2. While both the
Base and the NoFlex scenario require load shedding in order to achieve a feasible
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 97

Table 2 Load shedding results

Base NoFlex Flex DynFlex
Hours with LS 240 136 11 9
Avg. hourly LS [MW] 20,48 9,00 0,78 0,78
Max. hourly LS [MW] 10043 6429,48 1794,14 2156,31

solution in more than 100 single hours during the year, this value is greatly decreased
in the Flex scenario and even more in the DynFlex scenario. The main reason for this
is the reduction in peak demand and generation due to the market-based dispatch of
flexibilities as described in Sect. 2. Furthermore, the additional control capabilities
– albeit with a small capacity over a longer time horizon – lead to less congestion
events, which cannot be prevented without curtailing demand.
In the Base scenario, the average hourly positive dispatch adjustment requirement
in the entire transmission grid area considered is 8.672 GW, with peaks reaching
adjustments of up to 18.5 GW. As a permanent additional power provision is
required in order to balance the transmission losses over lines and transformers, the
positive adjustment does not decrease to zero even in cases without any violation of
voltage or thermal limits. In the NoFlex scenario, the hourly requirement reduces by
48 MW while the peak increases to 20.1 GW. The hourly average decreases further
to 8.54 GW in the Flex scenario and 8.497 GW in the DynFlex scenario, with the
peak decreasing to 17.7 and 17.6 GW. The average negative dispatch adjustment
required is not distorted by additional grid losses, over the scenarios it decreases
by 3.6%, 2.1% and 1.0% from the NoFlex to the DynFlex scenario. Similarly to
the positive adjustments, the negative yearly peak values are reaching the highest
absolute values for the NoFlex scenario and the lowest for the DynFlex scenario.
Overall, the results show that as expected more flexibilities available both in the
market and transmission grid lead to a lower amount of required redispatch. Yet, the
different utilisations of both central and distributed flexibilities have a lower impact
on the grid operation than expected. Among flexibilities the inclusion of large-
scale hydro in the Flex scenario has the largest impact, as observed in the yearly
values of negative dispatch adjustment. Operating distributed flexibilities according
to central market signals leads to a small improvement in terms of transmission grid
congestion. A similar observation can be made for the inclusion of BESS in the
adjustable generation on the grid side. The comparably small difference between
the scenarios might be explained by the discrepancies in the transmission grid model
and the generation and demand data for 2030, with structural congestion accounting
for a large part of the observed overloading events. However, the resulting security
of supply is largely increased by utilising distributed flexibilities with load shedding
mostly rendered unnecessary, as can be seen in Table 2. In order to improve the
accuracy of findings for the total amount, more grid expansion in the input data or
a better coordination of renewable expansion and demand increase on the one hand
and the transmission grid on the other hand might be needed.
98 M. Ruppert et al.

4.3 AC vs. DC Formulation

The comparison of hourly results of the DynFlex scenario with the results of an
identical simulation performed with the DC restrictions in the load flow equations is
shown in Fig. 5. For the sake of an equivalent comparison, grid losses are subtracted
from the positive dispatch adjustment of the AC solution, and the demand of the
DC model was increased by today’s average national transmission grid losses for all
market areas considered. Otherwise, both model formulations, restrictions and input
data were kept consistent. The DC problem was solved using the commercial solver
Gurobi. Even though the set of DC constraints form a relaxed formulation of the
problem, the AC solution has a lower requirement for adjustments after correcting
the AC results for the required adjustments to account for grid losses. This is due
to the additional positive generation increase needed to account for grid losses in
the AC case, which are part of the optimisation problem in the formulation chosen
in this paper and thus contribute to relieving existing congestions. As a result they
lower the additionally needed adjustment after the subtraction of the losses, leading
to lower requirements, even though the linearised DC formulation is commonly
referred to as a relaxation of the AC formulation. In the section up to 5 GW, the
effect of voltage limits can be seen, which leads to higher AC adjustments as voltage
is constant in the DC formulation. Overall, individual deviation in single hours
can be significant while the entire trend and structure are similar. The correlation
between the positive adjustment value series is 91.1%. This shows that the DC
approach is suitable as an estimator for the AC equations for the investigation of
general trends, while individual results and peaks might differ significantly due to
the simplifications undertaken. For these cases, the AC formulation leads to better
results.

Fig. 5 (a) Distribution of positive adjustments for AC/DC results. (b) Distribution of negative
adjustments of non-intermittent generators. (c) Distribution of negative adjustments of intermittent
generators
Utilising Distributed Flexibilities in the European Transmission Grid 99

5 Conclusion

In this paper, we presented a two-step approach to investigate the influence of

distributed flexibilities on the operation of the transmission grid in the central Euro-
pean area. For this, we have developed a market optimisation formulation, which
enables us to obtain dispatch results which include different kind of distributed
flexible generation and demand sources. Subsequently, we analysed the effect of
four scenarios with different implementation rates of flexibilities in market and
grid operation based on a case study using data for the year 2030. Furthermore,
we compared the results of our multi-period AC formulation to determine grid
congestion with a linearised DC formulation.
We conclude based on the required adjustments over the simulation horizon
of 8760 h, that a scenario like the DG scenario of the TYNDP, with high RES-
E increase and the additional introduction of demand-side flexibilities into the
electricity system is generally feasible for the anticipated transmission grid of the
year 2030. Locally concentrated, larger adjustments can be explained by the gap
between known grid expansion in selected countries and the ambitious targets of
the chosen scenario. Also, distributed flexibilities show to have a strong effect on
solving grid congestions that lead to load shedding, which is necessary in the Base
scenario of our study in more than 200 h in order to achieve a feasible solution. This
is almost entirely resolved when optimising distributed flexibilities with the market
and enabling the adjustment of BESS during grid operation.
Furthermore, the results of the four scenarios investigated show that the impact of
increased participation of both central and distributed flexibilities in the market and
grid operation has a positive but comparably low influence on the overall required
adjustment to operate the grid within its technical limits in our chosen case study.
The largest change on the average adjustments required occurs when adding central
storage units to the set of generators and consumers available for adjustment in the
grid simulation. The comparison of the AC and DC results showed that the required
adjustment can be lower in the AC case, if the provision of grid losses is included
into the AC formulation and generation increase is performed at locations which are
suitable for lowering stress on the grid. Additionally, the individual results of each
hour showed a generally well reproduced trend using the DC relaxation, however
single hours can differentiate significantly in both cases.
In the current state a simplified approach of modelling the flexible operation
of shiftable demands and renewables based on their profile was integrated in the
market model. In the future we are planning to integrate the decentral flexibilities
modelling into the grid model und validate it against a more detailed representation
of individual units. As demand and supply uncertainty have a major impact on the
utilisation of storages and load shifting potentials, we are furthermore planning
to extend our modelling to a stochastic optimization. Finally, the extension of the
current modelling approach to a unit commitment problem would allow us to fully
evaluate the contribution of flexibilities for the future power system.
100 M. Ruppert et al.

Acknowledgements Manuel Ruppert and Rafael Finck gratefully acknowledge funding by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the Kopernikus Project
ENSURE “New ENergy grid StructURes for the German Energiewende”.
Viktor Slednev kindly acknowledges the support for this work from the German Research
Foundation (DFG) under the Project Number LE1432/14-2.

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included in the chapter’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by
statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
 Part III
Managing Demand Response
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear
Programming Models of Thermostatic
Loads in Demand Response

Carlos Henggeler Antunes, Vahid Rasouli, Maria João Alves, Álvaro Gomes,
José J. Costa, and Adélio Gaspar

Abstract In smart grids, it is expected that electricity retailers will offer time-
differentiated tariffs with significant price variations in short periods. Consumers
are then encouraged to engage in demand response strategies by making the most
of their flexibility in the operation of end-use appliances to minimize the electricity
bill without compromising on comfort. Air conditioning systems are particularly
suited to be controlled, by profiting from the thermal inertia of building units. This
paper presents novel mixed integer linear programming formulations to optimize
the operation of a thermostatically-controlled air conditioning system, thoroughly
discussing their main features and associated computational difficulties resulting
from their combinatorial nature.

Keywords Mixed integer linear programming (MILP) · Thermostatic loads ·

Demand response

1 Introduction

Buildings in the commercial and residential sectors account for about 40% of the
total energy consumption in European Union countries [1, 2]. Heating, Ventilation
and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems represent one of the most significant loads

C. H. Antunes () · V. Rasouli · Á. Gomes

INESC Coimbra, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Coimbra,
Coimbra, Portugal
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
M. J. Alves
CeBER, Faculty of Economics and INESC Coimbra, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
e-mail: [email protected]
J. J. Costa · A. Gaspar
ADAI-LAETA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Coimbra,
Portugal
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 105

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_7
106 C. H. Antunes et al.

contributing to electrical energy consumption. HVAC systems are particularly suited

to be controlled by making the most of: (i) the thermal inertia of spaces to be
conditioned (leading to some time dissociation between the energy consumption
and the energy service provided), and (ii) the flexibility of consumers’ preferences
regarding the provision of energy services in face of dynamic time-of-use tariffs
(displaying some willingness to bear the indoor temperature somewhat farther from
the reference settings for a limited period of time). Since time-differentiated tariff
schemes are expected to become relevant commercial offers in electricity retail
markets in smart grids, demand response actions should be developed to achieve
optimal operation of HVAC systems. Optimal HVAC control can be beneficial for
consumers (by reducing the energy bill without jeopardizing comfort), retailers
(by managing buying and selling prices) and grid operators (by contributing
to release the strain in distribution networks and enhancing the utilization of
renewable sources). Consumer engagement in demand response programs can be
made operational by means of automated energy management systems endowed
with optimization algorithms and the capability to control appliances. Therefore,
adequate and tractable models for optimal thermostat programming should be
developed as operational tools (to be embedded with sensors and control) for
demand response programs.
The potential of thermostatic loads for demand response actions has been
exploited in the literature, due to their significant consumption and the possibility
of being controlled. For this purpose, mathematical models have been proposed,
in particular mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulations, i.e. with
integer and continuous variables. The authors in [3] consider heat pumps for heating
residential buildings with a floor heating system using a linear state space model in
an Economic Model Predictive Control framework. Thermal models are developed
in [4] for a smart house for determining the value of thermal inertia in demand
response dynamic pricing using a MILP formulation. The authors in [5] present
a user-centric demand response control for scheduling the electric space heating
load under price and load uncertainty to minimize a weighted-sum of the expected
payment, loss of comfort, and financial risk of a customer while considering the
end-user’s preferences. The household thermal behavior is modeled by means of
a two-capacity building model. An HVAC system is considered in [6] that is
controlled (in combination with other type of loads, PV generation and storage)
by a home energy management system, thus enabling residential consumers to
participate in demand response programs. A price-based demand response strategy
for multi-zone office buildings to optimize the energy cost of HVAC units and
the thermal discomfort of occupants is formulated in [7] as a MILP model. The
authors in [8] develop an approach based on a partial-differential equation model of
thermal diffusion to determine the thermostat settings to minimize the electricity
bill for a consumer with energy time-of-use and power prices, in which the
optimal thermostat programming for HVAC is formulated as a constrained dynamic
optimization problem. The authors in [9] consider the optimization of the investment
and operation planning of a decentralized energy system, which is subject to
different sources of uncertainties, encompassing photovoltaic generators and load
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 107

flexibility using heat pumps in combination with thermal energy storage units for
space heating and domestic hot water, which is tackled by two-stage stochastic
programming.
This paper presents novel comprehensive MILP models in which the physical
characteristics of a thermostatically-controlled air conditioning system are consid-
ered. These models have the common aim of determining the optimal thermostat
operation using different forms of thermostat control. It will be discussed that
the combinatorial nature of these models makes it difficult to solve them by a
state-of-the-art exact solver. This fact impairs embedding realistic mathematical
models in automated building energy management systems when a fine-grain time
discretization of the planning period is considered.
The study is made in the perspective of the building owner or tenant, i.e. the one
who aims to minimize the energy bill. These models can also be useful to optimize
demand response strategies that can be of interest for the grid operator (possibly
through the mediation of an aggregator of end-users’ flexibility that uses this asset
to participate in ancillary service provision markets). Thus, this paper adopts an
Operational Research methodology focusing on the development of mathematical
programming models.
The paper begins by developing a simple thermodynamic model to derive a time-
discretized equation expressing the instantaneous indoor temperature (at instant
ti ) as a function of the indoor temperature, the external temperature and the air
conditioning system operation at the preceding instant (ti−1 ). MILP models are
then presented accounting for the hysteresis behavior of the thermostat between
minimum and maximum temperatures defining the dead-band around a reference
temperature (set-point). It is shown that, if just modelling this behavior, the model
is solved in an acceptable computation time. However, if a minimum ON or
OFF period is considered (also to avoid excessive switching), offering increased
operation flexibility, the computation effort becomes impracticable.
In Sect. 2 the building thermal model is developed. MILP models of a
thermostatically-controlled air conditioning system with different features are
described in Sect. 3. Section 4 reports extensive computational experiments of the
different MILP models. Conclusions are drawn in Sect. 5.

2 Development of the Building Thermal Model

A space, a building unit, is considered for being heated/cooled by means of an air

conditioning (AC) system. Assuming the building unit as a (homogeneous) control
volume, whose instantaneous indoor temperature is uniform and denoted by θ in (t),
the overall thermal energy balance on a heat rate basis (at some generic instant t) is
[10]:

dθ in (t)
q ext (t) + q g (t) + q AC (t) = C (1)
dt
108 C. H. Antunes et al.

for AC in heating mode, and

dθ in (t)
q ext (t) + q g (t) − q AC (t) = C (2)
dt
for AC in cooling mode.
In these expressions: q ext (t) is the instantaneous external load [kW]; q g (t) is
the instantaneous internal load (rate of heat generation, by occupants, lighting,
appliances) [kW]; C = ρcp V is the overall thermal capacity [kJ/◦ C], in which
ρ and cp are, respectively, the mass density [kg/m3] and the specific heat at constant
pressure [kJ/(kg.◦C)] of indoor air, if no other thermal inertia of the building is
considered, or some weighted values for indoors, and V is the volume of the building
unit [m3 ]; q AC (t) is the instantaneous air conditioning heating/cooling load [kW].
Considering a finite-difference approach over a time-step Δt to integrate equa-
tion (1) in a fully explicit time discretization – all variables at the “previous”
instant ti−1 , except for temperature θ in (ti ) at the “present” instant of Δt – it can
be assumed that the rate of the energy storage, i.e. the right-hand side in (1) is given
in in (t
by C θ (ti )−θ
Δt
i−1 )
, and the external load q ext (ti ) ≈ U.A [θ ext (ti−1 ) − θ in (ti−1 )].
U is the (weighted-average) overall heat transfer coefficient of the building unit
envelope [kW/(m2·◦ C)] and A is the surface area of the envelope [m2]. Therefore,
U.A represents the overall thermal conductance of the unit envelope [kW/◦ C].
Introducing the expressions above in (1), equations (3), (4), (5) are obtained:
2 3 C in
g
U.A θtext − θ ti−1 + qti−1 + qti−1 =
in AC
(θ − θtin ) (3)
i−1
Δ t ti i−1

U.A Δt g
θtin
i
= θtin
i−1
+ Δ t (θtext
i−1
− θtin
i−1
)+ (qti−1 + qtAC
i−1
) (4)
C C

U.A U.A Δt g
θtin
i
= (1 − Δ t) θtin
i−1
+( Δ t) θtext
i−1
+ (qti−1 + qtAC
i−1
) (5)
C C C

In a dynamic simulation of buildings, the internal thermal load q g [kW] is usually

defined according to the operation profile (e.g., daily/weekly profile of occupation,
of lighting, etc.), i.e. all internal loads (thermal power) associated with the type of
utilization of the building.
Without loss of generality for the application of the model, and for the sake of
simplification in this context, the following assumptions are considered:
g
1. the internal heat loads are neglected: qti−1 ≈ 0.
2. qtAC
i−1
= COP Ptdemand
i−1
= COP Pnom AC s
ti−1

where COP is the AC coefficient of performance, Ptdemand

i−1
AC are the power
and Pnom
demand and the AC nominal power, respectively, and sti−1 is the AC control variable
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 109

Table 1 Typical values of parameters α, β and γ for different discretization intervals of the
planning period
Parameter Δt = 1h Δ t = 15 min Δ t = 5 min Δ t = 1 min
α 0.4276 0.8569 0.9523 0.99046
β 0.5724 0.1431 0.0477 0.00954
γ [◦ C/kW] 11.1111 2.7778 0.9259 0.1852

ON/OFF at instant ti−1 . Equation (5) can be rewritten as:

U.A U.A Δt
θtin
i
= (1 − Δ t) θtin
i−1
+( Δ t) θtext
i−1
+ AC
COP Pnom sti−1 (6)
C C C

θtin
i
= α θtin
i−1
+ β θtext
i−1
+ γ Pnom
AC
sti−1 (7)

α =1−β (8)

U.A
β= Δt (9)
C
Δt
γ = COP (10)
C

Therefore, since COP , Pnom AC , Δ t and C are always positive quantities, the sign

in equation (10) is positive as this equation has been derived from (1) for heating
mode. Otherwise, γ = − ΔCt COP (negative) for cooling mode.
The coefficients α, β and γ derive from the building characteristics (area,
envelope, etc.) and the COP of the AC. Considering a building unit with a 225 m2
floor area and 3 m height, and the properties of the air inside (density of 1.19 kg/m3
and specific heat of 1.007 kJ/(kg.◦C)), the air thermal capacity is C ≈ 810 kJ/◦ C.
Taking U -values of 0.35 and 0.30 W/(m2 .◦ C) for the building facades and roof,
respectively, a value of U.A ≈ 0.129 kW/◦ C is obtained. Assuming a COP =
2.5, typical values of parameters α, β and γ are displayed in Table 1 for different
discretization intervals of the planning period.

3 Mathematical Models of a Thermostatically-Controlled AC

System

This section presents different MILP models aimed at determining the optimal
operation of the AC within a planning period to minimize energy costs, considering
distinct forms of control. Although other types of loads could be considered
(such as shiftable and interruptible appliances), the goal herein is to focus on the
mathematical modelling of the AC operation. Shiftable loads include dishwashers,
110 C. H. Antunes et al.

laundry machines and clothes driers, i.e. appliances for which the operation cycle
cannot be interrupted once initiated. The supply of interruptible loads, which include
electric water heaters and the battery of electric vehicles, can be interrupted within
preferred time slots provided a certain amount of energy is supplied. In general,
shiftable and interruptible loads require MILP models, which can be solved very fast
by state-of-the-art solvers (e.g. Cplex), although requiring many binary variables.
Examples of such models are the ones presented in [11] and [12]. However, the
MILP modelling of the thermostat behavior is more complex and imposes a higher
computational effort to obtain the optimal solution. In particular, MILP models
are presented accounting for the hysteresis behavior of the thermostat between
minimum and maximum temperatures defining the dead-band around a reference
temperature (set-point) established by the user according to his comfort preferences.
The planning period consists of T time intervals t = 1, . . . , T of a given
duration; this discretization can be, for instance, 15-, 5- or 1-min. The length of
the time interval is denoted by Δt, in hours. For instance, if a 1-min discretization
is used then Δt = 1/60 h.
Figure 1 displays the behavior of the thermostat of an AC in heating mode.
The hysteresis operation of the thermostat prevents excessive switching when the
indoor temperature is around the set-point, which may be established as the mid-
point within the dead-band defined by the comfort range of indoor temperature
[θ min ,θ max ] specified by the user. These comfort bounds may depend on t, i.e. may
be different during the planning period ([θ min max ], t = 1, . . . , T ); for the sake
t , θt
of clarity, we will consider the comfort bounds constant throughout the planning
period in the formulations presented below. Hysteresis determines the AC control
variable:
– st = 1, i.e. the AC continues ON as the indoor temperature θtin increases above
θ min until it reaches θ max (a in Fig. 1);
– st = 0, i.e. the AC continues OFF as the indoor temperature decreases below
θ max until it reaches θ min (b in Fig. 1).

3.1 Modelling the Thermostat Behavior

Model 1A forces st = 1 when the indoor temperature (θtin ):

– is below the lower bound of the comfort band (θtin < θ min ) OR

Fig. 1 Behavior of an AC
thermostat for heating mode
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 111

– is within the comfort band (θ min ≤ θtin ≤ θ max ) AND in the previous instant
the AC was also ON (st −1 = 1)
Model 1A (heating mode):


T
min [ ct Pnom
AC
st ]Δt (11)
t =1

s.t.:

θtin = α θtin−1 + β θtext

−1 + γ Pnom st −1
AC
t = 1, . . . , T (12)

θtin ≥ θ max − Myt t = 1, . . . , T (13)

θtin ≥ θ min − Mwt t = 1, . . . , T (14)

st −1 ≤ wt t = 1, . . . , T (15)

yt + wt − st ≤ 1 t = 1, . . . , T (16)

st ∈ {0, 1}, yt ∈ {0, 1}, wt ∈ {0, 1}, t = 1...,T (17)

θtin ≥ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (18)

The binary variables st control the thermostat switching:

⎧
⎨0 if the AC is OFF
st =
⎩1 if the AC is ON

The auxiliary binary variables yt and wt establish the consistency conditions

associated with thermostat switching to the ON position (st = 1):
⎧
⎨1 if θtin < θ max
yt =
⎩0 otherwise
⎧
⎨1 if θ in < θ min OR s
t −1 = 1
wt = t
⎩0 otherwise

M is a positive large number, which is used in (13) and (14) to enforce the logical
conditions. M must be larger than any temperature value; for instance, M = 100
112 C. H. Antunes et al.

(or any higher value) is suitable as temperatures are in ◦ C. The constraints of Model
1A ensure that:
1. if θtin < θ min , then yt = 1 and wt = 1 by (13) and (14); hence, by yt +wt −st ≤ 1
(16), st = 1;
2. if θ min ≤ θtin < θ max and st −1 = 1, then yt = 1 and wt = 1 by (13) and (15);
hence, by yt + wt − st ≤ 1 (16), st = 1;
3. in other cases, st is free to be 0 or 1. The objective function pushes these variables
to 0, in order to turn the AC to the OFF state and minimize cost.
Additional input information to be specified include:
– The temperatures defining the thermostat dead-band, i.e. the minimum temper-
ature θ min (◦ C) below which the thermostat should be ON (st = 1) and the
maximum temperature θ max (◦ C) above which the thermostat should be OFF
(st = 0).
– The initial indoor temperature θ0in (◦ C) and the initial status (0, 1) of the
thermostat s0 .
– A forecast of external temperatures θtext (◦ C).
– The nominal power of the AC, Pnom AC (kW).

– The cost of energy ct (e/kWh) for t = 1, . . . , T , in which the coefficients ct

derive from a time-of-use tariff (a commercial offer of a retailer selected by the
user).
This model assumes that the “natural state” of the control variable st is 0 (since it
has a positive coefficient in the objective function to be minimized). The objective
function forces the binary variables to 0 whenever the constraints do not impose
these variables to be 1. However, in this model it may happen that, when indoor
temperature drops below the upper bound temperature (θ max ) after having been
above it (and hence st = 0), the control variable switches from 0 to 1 within
the thermostat comfort band (note that there are no constraints forcing st = 0
because this would be the normal state of the variable). This may be beneficial for
the objective function by avoiding switching on at some later time intervals when
the electricity cost is higher. Therefore, Model 1A does not replicate exactly the
thermostat hysteresis behavior. This model guarantees the maintenance of the ON
state within the comfort dead-band (a in Fig. 1) but not the maintenance of the OFF
state (b in Fig. 1). This freedom to switch ON to benefit the cost objective function
is the reason why this model takes so much computation time. A model forcing the
control variables to 0 or 1 according to the thermal balance equation and thermostat
hysteresis, i.e. a rule-based system modelling the thermostat switching, is almost
instantaneously solved. This is implemented in Model 1B. In addition to Model
1A, Model 1B (also for heating mode) explicitly forces st = 0 when the indoor
temperature (θtin ):
– is above the upper bound of the comfort band (θtin > θ max ) OR
– is within the comfort band (θ min ≤ θtin ≤ θ max ) AND in the previous instant
the AC was also OFF (st −1 = 0) (b in Fig. 1)
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 113

Model 1B (heating mode):


T
min [ ct Pnom
AC
st ]Δt (19)
t =1

s.t.:

θtin = α θtin−1 + β θtext

−1 + γ Pnom st −1
AC
t = 1, . . . , T (20)

θtin ≥ θ min − Mst t = 1, . . . , T (21)

θtin ≤ θ min + Mzt t = 1, . . . , T (22)

θtin ≥ θ max − Myt t = 1, . . . , T (23)

θtin ≤ θ max + M(1 − st ) t = 1, . . . , T (24)

zt + yt − st −1 + st ≤ 2 t = 1, . . . , T (25)

zt + yt + st −1 − st ≤ 2 t = 1, . . . , T (26)

st ∈ {0, 1}, yt ∈ {0, 1}, zt ∈ {0, 1} t = 1, . . . , T (27)

θtin ≥ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (28)

The binary variables st keep the same meaning as in Model 1A, i.e. they control the
thermostat switching.
The auxiliary binary variables yt and zt establish the consistency conditions
associated with thermostat switching to the ON (st = 1) and OFF (st = 0) positions:
⎧
⎨1 if θtin < θ max
yt =
⎩0 otherwise
⎧
⎨1 if θ in > θ min
zt = t
⎩0 otherwise

Constraints (21) impose that st = 1 if θtin < θ min . Constraints (22), (23) together
with (25), (26) impose that st keeps the value of st −1 within the comfort band.
Constraints (24) impose that st = 0 if θtin > θ max .
However, this model is just the mathematical formulation of logical implications,
which establish the values that the control variable should have according to
the indoor temperature θtin and thus no optimization is really at stake. That is,
114 C. H. Antunes et al.

st variables are rigidly determined by the conditions that establish θtin and the
thermostat operation (Fig. 1). In this case, there is a single feasible solution (the
one that complies with the thermostat hysteresis switching rules), so obtaining the
solution to this model is almost instantaneous.

3.2 Modelling Minimum ON/OFF Duration Periods

A new model (Model 2) has been developed to offer the possibility of controlling
the AC to make the most of time-differentiated tariffs, i.e. being ON during lower
electricity price periods when it is not strictly necessary to heat the building space so
that thermal comfort is achieved even limiting the time ON when electricity prices
are higher. In face of this freedom given to the model, it is necessary to inhibit
excessive switching, which is accomplished by imposing a new set of constraints.
In the comfort band, the AC control variables st are determined to minimize costs
in face of dynamic tariffs, but once there is a switch from 1 to 0 or from 0 to
1, then the new state ON/OFF should be kept for at least d time intervals (these
minimum ON/OFF periods could be different for each state). These new constraints
establish:
– (33): if there is a change from st −1 = 1 to st = 0, then the subsequent st should
be equal to 0 during d time intervals.
– (34): if there is a change from st −1 = 0 to st = 1, then the subsequent st should
be equal to 1 during d time intervals.
– (35) and (36): in the last d time intervals of the planning period, if there is a
switch from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1, then this position must be kept until T .
This model is also quite demanding from the computation time point of view due to
offering the possibility of switching from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1 in the comfort band.
Model 2 (heating mode):


T
min [ ct Pnom
AC
st ]Δt (29)
t =1

s.t.:

θtin = α θtin−1 + β θtext

−1 + γ Pnom st −1
AC
t = 1, . . . , T (30)

θtin ≥ θ min − Mst t = 1, . . . , T (31)

θtin ≤ θ max + M(1 − st ) t = 1, . . . , T (32)

A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 115

t +d−1
1 
1 − st + st −1 + sj ≤ 2 t = 1, . . . , T − d + 1 (33)
d
j =t

t +d−1
1 
1 − st + st −1 + sj ≥ 1 t = 1, . . . , T − d + 1 (34)
d
j =t

1  T
1 − st + st −1 + sj ≤ 2 t = T − d + 2, . . . , T (35)
T −t +1
j =t

1  T
1 − st + st −1 + sj ≥ 1 t = T − d + 2, . . . , T (36)
T −t +1
j =t

st ∈ {0, 1} t = 1, . . . , T (37)

θtin ≥ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (38)

3.3 Modelling an Inverter AC

Inverter technology AC appliances have growing acceptance because of increased

efficiency, extended life and elimination of abrupt load and temperature variations.
In this type of appliances, a variable-frequency drive adjusts the compressor and
the cooling/heating output. The previous models can be extended to accommodate
inverter units, for instance considering they can be operated at different levels with
respect to the nominal power. This can be modelled by introducing additional binary
decision variables:
⎧
⎪
⎪1 if the AC is operating at load level r
⎨
δt =
r
(r = 1, . . . , R) at time t ∈ T
⎪
⎪
⎩0 otherwise

For instance, for R = 5 with the power levels 20–40–60–80–100% of the nominal
power, the AC operation is modelled in Model 3. In this model, θ min and θ max
should be interpreted as absolute bounds the user is willing to endure. Note that
the sets of constraints in the previous models could also have been used here (for
simplification purposes they were omitted). ptAC is the power required to operate
the AC at time t of the planning period, i.e. the AC is either OFF (ptAC = 0) or
supplied at one of the specified power levels.
116 C. H. Antunes et al.

Model 3 (heating mode):


T
min [ ct PtAC ]Δt (39)
t =1

s.t.:

θtin = α θtin−1 + β θtext

−1 + γ Pt
AC
t = 1, . . . , T (40)

ptAC = (0.2 δt1 + 0.4 δt2 + 0.6 δt3 + 0.8 δt4 + δt5 ) Pnom
AC
t = 1, . . . , T
(41)

δt1 + δt2 + δt3 + δt4 + δt5 ≤ 1 t = 1, . . . , T (42)

θtin ≥ θ min t = 1, . . . , T (43)

θtin ≤ θ max t = 1, . . . , T (44)

δtr ∈ {0, 1} r = 1, . . . , 5; t = 1, . . . , T (45)

ptAC ≥ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (46)

3.4 Modelling the Cost vs. Comfort Trade-Off

If the energy price at instant t, ct , is higher than a given threshold, cg , and the user
is willing to accept the indoor temperature some degrees, θ g , below the minimum
of the comfort band θ min (or above the maximum θ max in cooling mode), this can
be modelled by defining the auxiliary variables yt and the following constraints:
⎧
⎨1 if c ≥ cg
t
yt =
⎩0 otherwise

θ min − yt θ g ≤ θtin ≤ θ max t = 1, . . . , T (47)

cg − ct + Myt ≥ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (48)

cg − ct − M(1 − yt ) ≤ 0 t = 1, . . . , T (49)

The features of the models described above have been presented separately but
they may be combined. For instance, the different power levels in Model 3 can
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 117

be combined with the thermostat modelling of Models 1 and 2 and/or with the cost
vs. comfort trade-off.
In the next section, illustrative results of the exact solution (whenever possible
with a given computation budget) of these models using a MIP solver are presented
drawing attention to the computational effort.

4 Illustrative Results

4.1 Data

A planning period of 24 h with a time discretization of 1 min is adopted, i.e. 1440

time steps, which imposes a heavier computational burden. The thermostat dead-
band is defined by θ min = 20◦C and θ max = 24◦C. The initial indoor temperature
θ0in = 18◦C in all models, except in model 3 in which it is θ0in = 20◦ C. The
initial thermostat status s0 = 0. The external temperatures θtext (◦ C) for a winter
day (from a meteorological station in Coimbra, central Portugal, on January 1st ,
2012) are available at http://www.uc.pt/en/org/inescc/publications/files/temp_out_
winter.xlsx.
AC = 1.5 kW. The time-differentiated energy
The nominal power of the AC, Pnom
prices ct (e/kWh), considering 10 sub-periods, are given in Table 2. Experiments
have been made on an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5, 3.33 GHz computer with GAMS ver.
24.0.2 and Cplex ver. 12.5.0.0.

4.2 Results

A computational budget of 7200 s or relative MIP gap of 0.5% was established. The
behavior of thermostat switching as well as the evolution of indoor temperature are
displayed in Figs. 2 and 3 for Model 1A and Model 1B, respectively. The cost of
the corresponding optimal solutions for Model 1A and Model 1B, as well as the
dimension of the models and the Cplex time to obtain these solutions are given
in Table 3. A minimum duration ON/OFF after a thermostat switching occurs is
considered with d = 3 and d = 5 min (Model 2). The behavior of thermostat
switching and the evolution of indoor temperature are displayed in Figs. 4 and 5 for
Model 2 with d = 3 and d = 5 min, respectively. The cost of the corresponding
optimal solutions for d = 3 min and d = 5 min, as well as the dimension of the
model and the Cplex time to obtain these solutions are given in Table 4. Considering
that the AC can operate at power levels 20–40–60–80–100% of Pnom AC in Model 3,

the cost of the optimal solution as well as the dimension of the model and the Cplex
time to obtain these solutions are given in Table 5. The corresponding solution of
the AC operation and indoor temperature variation is displayed in Fig. 6.
 118

Table 2 Electricity prices ct (e/kWh) charged by the retailer, in each sub-period Pi , i ∈ {1, . . . , 10} (24-h planning period discretized in 1440 1-min intervals)
Price P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10
sub-period [1,120] [121,360] [361,450] [451,630] [631,750] [751,840] [841,1020] [1021,1140] [1141,1260] [1261,1440]
ct (e/kWh) 0.1 0.075 0.12 0.24 0.21 0.18 0.21 0.24 0.30 0.15
C. H. Antunes et al.
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 119

Fig. 2 Optimal AC operation and indoor temperature for Model 1A

Fig. 3 Optimal AC operation and indoor temperature for Model 1B

Table 3 Optimal solutions, problem dimension and Cplex time (Model 1A and 1B)
Optimal Relative Cplex N. binary N. continuous
Model name solution (e) gap (%) time (s) variables variables N. constraints
Model 1A 2.416125 43.47 7200 4320 1440 7199
Model 1B 2.465125 0 0.01 4320 1440 10078

Fig. 4 Optimal AC operation and indoor temperature for Model 2 with d = 3 min

The frequency of switching in Model 1A is higher than in Model 1B due to

the freedom given by that model to minimize cost. In Model 1A, the AC is ON
for a longer time in pricing sub-period P3 to account for the increase in price
in subsequent sub-periods (Fig. 2). Note that the solution presented in Fig. 2 and
Table 3 for Model 1A still presents a MIP gap of 43.47% after 2 h of computation,
due to the combinatorial difficulties of this model. Model 1B, as expected, is solved
to optimality instantly.
The temperature peaks in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are due to the capability of the models
to accommodate for comfort by making the most of lower price sub-periods. The
MIP gaps in Model 2 (Table 4) are still significant after 2 h of computation.
The optimal solution to Model 3 is better than the solutions obtained for the other
models due to the possibility of the inverter AC to work at different power levels.
120 C. H. Antunes et al.

Fig. 5 Optimal AC operation and indoor temperature for Model 2 with d = 5 min

Table 4 Optimal solutions, problem dimension and Cplex time (Model 2)

Optimal Relative Cplex N. binary N. continuous
Model name solution (e) gap (%) time (s) variables variables N. constraints
Model 2 (d = 3 min) 2.015875 6.95 7200 1440 4320 8636
Model 2 (d = 5 min) 2.07725 10.62 7200 1440 4320 8636

Table 5 Optimal solutions, problem dimension and Cplex time (Model 3)

Model Optimal Relative Cplex N. binary N. continuous
name solution (e) gap (%) time (s) variables variables N. constraints
Model 3 1.94445 0.57 7200 7200 2880 7200

Fig. 6 Optimal AC operation and indoor temperature for Model 3

5 Conclusion

This paper presented a set of mixed integer linear programming models in order
to optimize the operation of a thermostatically-controlled air conditioning system
(AC), aiming at minimizing the energy costs. These models capture different
physical control characteristics:
– Model 1A models the hysteresis operation of the thermostat (in heating mode),
preventing from excessive switching when the indoor temperature is around a set-
point. This model gives, however, some freedom to thermostat switching when
the indoor temperature is within the dead-band, enabling to change from OFF to
ON if this benefits the cost objective function.
– Model 1B removes the flexibility given by the previous model, forcing the AC to
keep its state when the indoor temperature is within the dead-band. This model
implements, in a MILP formulation, a rule-based system of logical implications.
A Discussion of Mixed Integer Linear Programming Models of Thermostatic. . . 121

The feasible region is reduced to one solution and the model can be solved very
quickly, unlike Model 1A which is computationally very demanding.
– Model 2 gives some flexibility while inhibiting excessive switching, by consid-
ering that, when the indoor temperature is within the dead-band, the thermostat
must keep its state (ON or OFF) for at least a predefined number of time intervals.
This model is also quite computationally demanding.
– Model 3 introduces a new feature that can be used to extend the previous models:
it models inverter units, considering that the AC can operate at different levels of
nominal power.
Modelling cost reduction at the expense of accepting worsening the indoor temper-
ature by some degrees was also introduced in this paper. It has been shown that the
combinatorial nature of these models imposes a severe computation burden, which
in some cases impairs obtaining the optimal solutions in a practical, acceptable
computational time by a state-of-the-art solver. Therefore, this work lays the
foundations for understanding those computational difficulties and gives insights for
the development of other approaches, namely dedicated meta-heuristics customized
for the features of the models, in order to offer good solutions with a suitable
computational effort.

Acknowledgements This work was partially supported by projects UID/MULTI/00308/2013 and

by the European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE 2020 Programme, FCT –
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within projects ESGRIDS (POCI-01-0145-
FEDER-016434) and MAnAGER (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028040).

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Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and
indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative
Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
included in the chapter’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by
statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
Weighted Fair Queuing as a Scheduling
Algorithm for Deferrable Loads in Smart
Grids

Tuncer Haslak

Abstract Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) is implemented for the problem of load
scheduling in demand side management. Power demand, wait time and group-to-
group fairness are the basis for three variants of the algorithm’s implementation. The
results are compared to a Greedy strategy with regard to the residual of renewable
power supply and the suggested measures of fairness. WFQ proves comparable
to Greedy in terms of the primary objective and in addition is capable of equally
distributing resources and distress caused by deferral.

Keywords Demand side management · Optimization · Weighted fair queuing

1 Introduction

Renewable energies are a resource that strain the grid through intermittent availabil-
ity and difficulty in prediction. Demand side management addresses the issue by
reversing the paradigm of grid operation and controlling power consumers instead
of only power generators.
Within demand side management there is a need for robust algorithms that face
the unpredictability aspect of renewable energies, which makes real-time algorithms
with no forecast information favorable.
Finding solutions that improve the residual power problem is only the first
step. Said problem is the question of how unused renewable supply should be
handled. Using the Greedy algorithm significant improvements can be accom-
plished. However, the results indicate that distress would be unevenly spread in the
consumer population. If distress is distributed unevenly, compensation would also
be distributed unevenly, which means that the market is not design towards fairness.

T. Haslak ()
University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
Hof University, Hof, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 123

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_8
124 T. Haslak

This paper introduces Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) as a scheduling algorithm

for deferrable loads in smart grids. Three variant implementations are presented
that feature different concepts of fairness: serving more and simultaneously smaller
loads, fairly distributing wait times, and treating any number of groups equally.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Model

The experimental environment is designed in AnyLogic and uses an interface to

control power consuming processes, as presented in [1]. The interface is suitable
for any process that is capable of prolonging periods of its activity or inactivity as
can be seen in Fig. 1. This requires no intimate knowledge of the process: when
an algorithmic decision is made to alter the behavior of an individual load, the
request is passed on to the agent representing the load. In accordance with its
internal conditions it then accepts or rejects. This is to replicate the sovereignty
of loads, as in actuality algorithms are informed of the current states and consider
them accordingly.
Every process is divided into 4 states: activity and inactivity, and for each of
those one deferrable and one non-deferrable. Processes can alter their power demand
from step to step or follow a mathematical function–anything that describes the real
behavior. The model captures distinct periods in which switching can be deferred.

On

On O
deferrable deferrable

?
O

Fig. 1 State automaton that governs the state changes for deferrable loads; States can be changed
by progression of time (clock) or request (question mark)
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 125

Fig. 2 This graph shows the power demand of a generic electric vehicle over approximately
2.5 h with a peak power demand of 22 kW. The simulation contains 300 consumers, this graph
exemplifies one specimen

Fig. 3 The automated welding machine requires 150 kW over 1–3 s, repeated 12 times over. In
the final step once 230 kW are needed for 5 s. This graph serves to show the internal working of a
consumer agent

The deferral and operation times are a matter of survey in the companies (interviews,
data sheets and surveillance). The total load shape is based on real loads that are
replicated with the simulation. Figures 2 and 3 are two examples of the power
demand and the repeated activation of loads.
126 T. Haslak

The analyzed algorithms make no use of forecasting of any kind; they operate
based on information of the “now”. The power supply is processed data-point-by-
data-point, left to right.

2.2 Population

The model population consists of approximately 300 individual loads. These encom-
pass beverage production, metal working, glass finishing, plastics production, textile
treatment, sewage treatment, electric vehicles and compressors for both pressure
applications and freezing. The switching behavior of a load for the purposes of the
simulation is detailed. The realistic accuracy was verified by a test implementation
in [2]. The composition of the population, i.e. the proportions of types of loads
are elected to reflect a midsized city by approximation, based on statistics found
in [3, 4] and [5]. The overall peak power demand across the whole population is
25 MW, with single members requiring power between 1 and 350 kW. The average
population power demand is 5.8 kW (cf. Fig. 7). State changes are deferrable by 15%
to 50% and depend on the current and future state (arrows in Fig. 1) of the individual
load. At any given time an average of approximately 20% of loads is deferrable.

2.3 Objective Function

Considering the negative impact of renewable energies, optimizing the load popula-
tion toward a renewable energy supply profile seems adequate. As the volatility of
the renewables is the straining property, immediate consumption by the deferrable
loads would lead to the minimization of the residual power function and thereby
stabilization. Residual power (R) is the amount of power leftover from renewable
supply after subtracting the demand. A sample from historic supply data is picked,
that consists of wind and solar energy over 24 h with a resolution of one data point
per 3 s. This deviates from the resolution of simulated demand, which is continuous.
Figure 4 shows the sample. At this resolution the objective function incorporates no
useful gradient information.
However, selecting a random supply function is not sufficient: First the data
points of the supply function must be scaled according to the demand of the popula-
tion of deferrable loads. The first simulation experiment is a simple observation of
how much power the consumer population requires when there is no optimization at
all. This is the so called “natural run” that allows any and all requests to switch on or
off. This unimpeded 24 h simulation returns a power demand function (P (t)Demand )
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 127

Fig. 4 Sample supply function, sum of wind and solar energy in northern Germany

in Watts. The integral thereof is the energy demand (WDemand ) in Watt-hours

(Eq. 1).
- 24h
P (t)Demand dt = WDemand (1)
0

In Eq. (2) the integrals of the natural run and the supply functions which are
WDemand and WSupply are equated. This yields a result for c, the scaling factor. The
result of this approach is a function of power supply (P (t)Supply ) that can satisfy
the demand in terms of energy (kWh), but in terms of the progression of power over
time (kW) any algorithm must manage transient deficits.

!
WDemand = c · WSupply
(2)
P (t)Demand = P (t)Supply

This scenario seems manageable concerning not only algorithms, but is also
realistic with regard to resource allocation. The latter meaning that purely renewable
supply seems unrealistic and would probably feature a safety factor to account
for fluctuations in demand. At the same time, however, in an economic sense a
rough balance between supply and demand is sensible, because of investment and
operative costs. At the least, equal supply and demand appears to be a good initial
metric.
To facilitate the comparison the summation from equation (3) is used, approxi-
mating the integral of the residual power for discrete time steps:


T
R= |Psupply − Pdemand |(t) (3)
t =0

This condenses the result of one 24 h simulation into one manageable value.
128 T. Haslak

2.4 Algorithms
2.4.1 Greedy

The Greedy strategy (Algorithm 1) is a heuristic search algorithm. It is incomplete,

but fast and very simple. As [6] shows it generally yields good results, though it
is not capable of systematically finding global optima. I chose this algorithm as a
starting point for its popularity, non-specificity and low computational requirements.
I have previously outlined the use of the Greedy algorithm in [1] and [2]. The
algorithm sorts the available candidates according to size and attempts to activate as
many as possible, as can be seen in Algorithm 1.

2.4.2 Weighted Fair Queuing

Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) is a sophisticated algorithm designed by Demers

et al. (cf. [7]), building on the work of Nagle [8]. WFQ manages congestion in
gateway queuing of datagram networks. The problem occurs when participants
in a network attempt to send data packets, but some entities always send larger
packets than others. WFQ replaces the pragmatic FIFO (first in, first out) paradigm
by categorically distinguishing datagram sources by packet size and permanently
assigning them to queues with predetermined weights. Weight, packet size and a
queues history determine which packet gets serviced next.
Identifiable parallels to the scheduling of deferrable loads lead to the application
of WFQ in a novel way. The deferrable loads also feature a well-defined requirement
for resources which is their power demand in Watts. This parameter is equatable
to the packet size, as is the network bandwidth to the usable residual power. The
significant reason that makes a more sophisticated algorithm desirable is the unfair
dissemination of resource with the Greedy strategy. By sorting according to size,
Greedy categorically prefers large loads, which disadvantages smaller loads.

Algorithm 1: Greedy
1 while forever do
2 forall Load do
3 if Residual > Load(i) then
4 activate;
5 calculate Residual;
6 else
7 deactivate;
8 end
9 end
10 end
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 129

WFQ (2) employs a heuristic called virtual finish time1 F (Eq. 4), which is
calculated using the packet size, or in this case the wattage of a load l and the
weight w of each queue i. Every load is usually permanently assigned to a queue,
as are weights to queues.

l
Fi = (4)
w
This yields a numeric value for each load that wants to schedule for activation.
For each queue a so-called session virtual finish time SFi is calculated (Eq. 5).


i−1
SFi = Fi + Fn (5)
n=0

Within every queue, all elements are queued on a FIFO basis. The element of the
queue i to be scheduled next is Fi . All previously successfully activated elements
are added with the summation term Fn . At every point in time the algorithm selects
the queue with the lowest SFi value. The significant difference in comparison to the
original WFQ implementation is the explicit check (Algorithm 2, ln. 10) whether
the current residual power is sufficient for the regarded load. In the network realm
decreasing bandwidth will not cause a packet to be rejected service–it will, however,
take increasing amounts of times to submit. This “flow” property is not given in
the case of deferrable loads, therefore “choking” cannot be applied, and switching
decisions are discrete.

Fairness

In datagram networks fairness is the property of allotting a certain resource to any

participant according to a predefined key. Such a key maybe simple and assign
equal fractions to everyone. In the case of WFQ, however the distribution scheme
accounts for a priori observations in terms of the typical resource requirements of
each participant. With WFQ bandwidth cannot be manipulated which means that the
amount of sheer data transmitted will at best remain the same (though more packets
cause more gaps). In fact the objective is to service a greater number of participants.

Fairness of Wattage

This exact thought is transferred to demand side management applied to a load’s

wattage. In contrast to the original network application participants do not forfeit

1 heuristic, not physical time

130 T. Haslak

Algorithm 2: Weighted fair queuing

1 begin function calculateSFs
2 forall queues do
3 F (i) ← l/w ;
4 SF (i) ← F (i) + F (n);
5 end
6 end
7 while ¬Abort do
8 calculate Residual;
9 calculateSFs forall Load do
10 if Residual > Load(i) ∧ ¬Restart then
11 activate;
12 Restart ← true;
13 else
14 Abort ← true;
15 end
16 end
17 end

after multiple trials in vain. It is implausible to assume that a load be denied access
altogether. Loads forcing themselves to power on is unfavorable, but in line with
the conventional grid operation paradigm of supplementation in such a case. As
the key influenceable property is the length of part of the “on” and “off” episodes
of each load, disproportionately large loads compensate with their “on” time. This
means that larger loads are operated for shorter periods of time by the algorithm.
The objective of employing this queuing scheme is to serve more participants in the
same time interval. Here fairness is targeting decongestion.

Fairness of Distress

“Wait time” is a second, additional fairness measure worthy of investigation.

Wattage is a strictly objective parameter. If we consider the period that a process
can wait to be served, this requires very intimate knowledge of the process to
determine the validity or honesty of time parameters as declared by a machine
operator. A company might easily misrepresent this information. For the simulation
experiment at hand the processes were personally surveyed and documented during
live observations. Especially as there was no motivation presented to falsify data,
the time parameters can considered to be sufficiently accurate.
In this regard fairness would disregard the wattage of a load and consider the
time it has been waiting to get served. Fairness in this sense is the equal distribution
of waiting-distress among the entirety of the load population.
For this variant fixed queue assignments are replaced with dynamic ones. The
longer a process waits, the further it moves into queues that make it more likely to
be picked next. To this end standardized wait time is favorable, i.e. the fraction of
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 131

time waited in proportion to the maximum amount of time the load can wait (Eq. 6).
Without this measure loads that provide less flexibility are irrationally rewarded.

twait ed
tst = (6)
tmax

Fairness Group-by-Group

As for a third measure of fairness the load population is subdivided into regions of
equal size, representative of quarters or districts. In this configuration each queue
represents one region, and regions compete for the available resources. This option
is designed to grant each group the same right to resources. Any attribute can be used
to queue in this manner. This generic queuing scheme targets an equal distribution
of deferral times and power to independent groups, but not within the groups. As
the virtual finish time paradigm is still applied, smaller loads are preferred.

Weights and Queues

There is no definitive answer on how weights should be chosen. Existing procedures

such as that outlined in [9] are not applicable because the prevailing problem of node
congestion in networks is not a relevant phenomenon. Therefore a mode of selecting
weights should rely on the available parameters. Each of the fairness measures
suggested above requires its own weighing scheme.

2.4.3 Weight by Power (WFQ-Power)

Considering that the resource “power” is engrossed correlating with wattage, a

load’s wattage should inversely determine its likelihood of being elected. As a
number of queues to which all loads are assigned, 5 was elected as it is typical.
The fifth of the population with the highest wattage is assigned to the according
quintile, and so forth. The weight for each queue is determined by computing its
average wattage. Following equation (4), fairness is established when the virtual
finish times of all individual loads are equal. This means solving for w and equating
the average wattages of all queues. Table 1 shows which weights are assigned to
queues, and the respective average wattage within the queue.
For example: At 250 kW load # 1 is a member of the queue weighted at 0.09,
i.e. the group of highest wattages. Compared to bottom quintile member load # 2 of
20 kW and its weight of 1. Load # 1 has a virtual finish time 138 times higher. The
mismatch in wattage reflects proportionately in the weights.
132 T. Haslak

Table 1 Averages of power μ of power in queue Queue weight

in queues and corresponding
weights (WFQ-Power) 220 kW 0.09
120 kW 0.17
90 kW 0.23
40 kW 0.5
20 kW 1

Table 2 Loads for WFQ-Time are dynamically assigned to queues by the percentage of wait time
expended from their maximum so far. In order to augment urgency, queue weights are doubled
from queue to queue
Expended wait time Queue weight
80–100% 1
60–80% 0.5
40–60% 0.25
20–40% 0.125
0–20% 0.0625

2.4.4 Weight by Wait Time (WFQ-Time)

Queuing by standardized wait time is carried out dynamically. In contrast to

wattage-queuing there is no a priori assignment. With increasing wait time, a load is
assigned to queues with higher weights that equate to higher likelihoods of getting
picked. Once again there are five queues, each designated for a 20% interval of
wait time completed. Table 2 shows how weights are governed for each queue.
Decreasing weights augment urgency.

2.4.5 By Region (WFQ-Geo)

In the case of grouping by region equal weights are assigned to all queues. As
the fictitious regions comprise equal portions of every category of the overall
population, and given the equal weights, this queuing scheme acts comparable to
a round-robin. This is true for all types of WFQ with equal weights (cf. [8]).

3 Model Limitations

The proposed model requires highly automated processes. The underlying work
plans are machine accessible so that the ensuing steps and their duration can
be projected. Semi-automation or increased human interaction would hinder this
procedure.
Even though they were not encountered during survey, processes that can
continuously adapt the level of their power input can only be replicated as a series of
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 133

discrete steps. On the contrary this model is a response to the lack of continuously
adaptable processes. Yet this is a limitation.
In addition the size of the consumer population cannot be arbitrarily increased.
To this end an arbitration mechanism appears feasible. Multiple optimization algo-
rithms would work on a fraction of a larger problem which in turn is consolidated
by optimization layers higher up in the hierarchy. This approach could also help to
reduce the amount of datagrams that are sent between the loads and the optimizer.

4 Results

In each simulation there is a population of approximately 300 manageable loads that

must be scheduled over 24 h following a randomly selected supply signal. There are
five experiments:
1. Natural run: All loads operate without any algorithmic interference. This is a
reference trial.
2. Greedy
3. WFQ: Power
4. WFQ: Wait time
5. WFQ: Region
Results are compared regarding the fulfillment of the primary optimization
objective from equation (3)–the minimization of residual power deviations. The
three queuing schemes of the WFQ variants have different secondary objectives.
The algorithm in experiment 3, with weights defined by power demand, aims to
serve more participants, especially smaller ones. Experiment 4 entails queuing by
wait time, which is designed to equally distribute the wait time percentages over the
entire population. Queuing by region, experiment 5, is designed to allocate the same
resources to arbitrarily defined subsets of the population.
In order to judge the fulfillment of these secondary objectives additional param-
eters must be analyzed. Cycles counts all activations which is the sum of every
individual power-on that was granted–in the datagram sense this is analogous to
serviced packages. The standardized average wait time is indicative of how long
every activation was deferred in percent of the maximum. Deferral length is the
sum of all deferrals as time. The variance of this value is representative of how
evenly deferrals are distributed among the population.
Table 3 summarizes the results of experiments 1–4. As outlined in Sect. 2.3 the
significant data is the power consumption function that every algorithm causes.
Figure 5 is the consumption profile caused by the Greedy strategy. Consumption
curves for all algorithms including the natural run (experiment 1) can be found in the
appendix (Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11). The visual differences in the residual curves are
exiguous due to the algorithmic similarity. The key difference is the residual energy.
Systematic differences do not express discernibly in the graphs. Showing which load
134 T. Haslak

Table 3 While Greedy performs best in terms of residual, it causes a high variance in deferral
lengths (inequal waiting). WFQ-Power and WFQ-Time accomplish their secondary objectives of
equal distress distribution (variance) and increasing the serviced loads (cycles) at the cost of energy
optimization (residual)
Natural run Greedy WFQ-Power WFQ-Time WFQ-Geo
Residual [MWh] 13,455.3 6261.8 6524.7 6749.9 6720.7
Avg. standardized wait [%] 0 34.0 34.7 34.2 35.9
Avg. deferral length [h] 0 3.83 3.69 3.90 3.93
Variance of deferral length 0 0.2027 0.1730 0.0973 0.169
Cycles (switch on & off) 577,783 419,228 489,450 439,278 443,366

Fig. 5 Power consumption for the Greedy algorithm, residual R in upper right corner

Table 4 This table shows the distribution of wait times of all queues of the WFQ-Geo algorithm.
The objective here is to treat all queues equally, which hinders global optimization objectives.
Fairness reflects in the similarity of waiting times
Queue 1 2 3 4 5
Avg. standardized wait [%] 35.9 35.6 36.1 35.8 36.0
Avg. deferral length [h] 3.89 3.95 4.02 3.89 3.92
Variance of deferral length 0.172 0.169 0.173 0.168 0.164
Cycles 88,243 87,922 88,101 88,450 87,921

is activated at any given time offers no insights from algorithm to algorithm, as no

pattern emerges.
The Greedy algorithm performs best by reducing the residual by 54.8%. WFQ-
Time improves the deferral distribution by a factor of 2.08, while maintaining a very
similar deferral length.
Table 4 shows the results of all queues of experiment 5, each representing
one region. As this algorithm is specified not to improve the global population,
but to serve queues equally, its results cannot be directly compared to the other
experiments. The only exception is the residual. Queue deferral length is on average
11% higher compared to WFQ-Power. Queue by queue comparison shows that
results group close together for all parameters, but worse in general.
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 135

Greedy 54,8%
4
WFQ-Power 52,6%
6
WFQ-Time 51,6%
,
WFQ-Geo 51,1%
49,0% 50,0% 51,0% 52,0% 53,0% 54,0% 55,0% 56,0%
Improvement on Residual

Greedy 69,3%
WFQ-Power 886,2%
WFQ-Time 88,3%
WFQ-Geo 844,0%
0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0% 100,0%
80% of distress distributed on [%] of population

Greedy 72,6%
WFQ-Power 84,7%
%
WFQ-Time 76,0%
WFQ-Geo 76,7%
65,0% 70,0% 75,0% 80,0% 85,0% 90,0%
Load demand satisfaction

Fig. 6 The WFQ algorithms can compete with the versatile Greedy algorithm in terms of the
residual optimization (blue). However Greedy focuses 80% of distress on only 69% of the
population (green). In addition WFQ-Power rejects especially few loads (red)

Figure 6 summarizes the advantages of WFQ: it is an improvement on the Greedy

algorithm which is fast and versatile. At the cost of slightly worse results with regard
to the optimization of the power residual, WFQ algorithms distribute distress more
equally, and serve more loads all else being equal.

5 Discussion

5.1 Improvement

As to be expected the natural run that features no algorithm or adaptation to

the objective function causes a high residual. The Greedy algorithm delivers the
greatest improvement in terms of residual. At the same time this algorithm unevenly
distributes the wait time distress across the population which is expressed in the
variance of the average deferral time. WFQ-Time significantly narrows the variance
of deferral, following its secondary objective. The WFQ-Power variant is capable of
136 T. Haslak

placing more individual activations which can be seen in its cycle count. Keeping in
mind that the objective function cannot be fully attained, as indicated in Sect. 2.3,
the algorithm still reduces the gap in serviced packages by approximately 60% in
comparison to Greedy.
The results from the algorithm WFQ-Geo in experiment 5 are inferior in general
as it causes longer wait times and the variance thereof indicates that wait times are
heterogeneously distributed within queues. The objective of equal queue treatment
is achieved at the cost of worse results all in all.

5.2 Distress

Distress distribution is a desirable trait in demand side management that is not

trivially deducible. Wait time is a parameter that cannot be easily subverted, if
for example the maximum deferral time is repaid as an incentive. Weighted Fair
Queuing is capable of delivering comparable result to a Greedy strategy in the
primary objective of residual power improvement. In addition it can be adapted
to pursue additional objectives. I presented three possible measures of fairness:
equality between multiple queues or regions (WFQ-Geo), the even distribution of
wait times (WFQ-Time), and serving more participants (WFQ-Power)–the latter
being most similar to the original algorithm. This shows that WFQ can be used
to introduce fairness to the selection of deferrable loads.

5.3 Methodological Contribution & Policy Advice

Despite its complexity Weighted Fair Queuing is a staple of network congestion

management. It is highly functioning and ubiquitous because of its performance and
its ability to accomplish fairness. The application to energy distribution problems is
novel. At the same time it introduces the problem of fairness into the matter, which
was disregarded because of the focus on residual power optimization, monetary
compensation or welfare gain.
The optimization problem presented and solved in this paper is significant in
its size regarding multiple dimensions. Firstly the time resolution exceeds the
commonly quoted 15 min intervals that stem from the tertiary grid balancing realm.
Grid stabilization however can only be achieved when the shrinking number of
spinning masses can be replaced. The realization that compensatory measure must
move below the 30-seconds-threshold is at the core of this research. Secondly,
the population is substantial with 300 members and 25 MW peak. Each load is
replicated as an agent with internal processes, variables and decision making.
Furthermore their states are not estimated or stochastically approximated–decision
making and transmission is acute, meaning that statuses are inquired, evaluated,
decided on and requests dispatched. Thirdly, no simplifying assumptions are applied
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 137

to the target function (power supply) such as smoothing. The complexity of the
problem is embraced to the extent that the resolution of the objective function
(supply) is the restricting factor. The argument is in favor of preparedness, as
methodologically the question answered here is that demand side management
features the necessary scalability and agility.
The suggested algorithms are implementations of centralized algorithms. As
the technology is still at an early stage centralization is acceptable. Especially as
the methodological exploration of this topic–which this research is part of–is still
ongoing. For future applications, however, this is not advisable, as a single entity
will possess all information on all clients (loads). The controlling entity would be
vulnerable to attacks . The presented model, is acting on a request basis which means
that a load can reject any suggestion to change its state. Designing intrinsically safe
systems increases complexity, but is quintessential policy advice.

5.4 Practical Implications

For companies owning deferrable loads the practical implications are low, especially
if processes are highly automated. The test implementation presented in [1] required
no manual interaction. While loads were in interference the optimization paused and
resumed automatically. The more a deferrable load is interwoven into the process
of a company, the more difficulty can arise from automated unexpected deferrals.
Deferrable loads are an effort that aim to improve the usage of renewable loads.
Some resulting distress is to be expected. Although not insinuated here, market
design should compensate for this.
The suggested interface is at the core of the research presented, as it allows for
the load to negotiate deferral and reject it. From a load’s perspective WFQ-Time is
the most favorable, as it guarantees that no load is overburdened with deferral. The
Greedy algorithm is unfavorable, as some loads are asked to defer significantly more
often than others (unfairness).

5.5 Algorithm Comparison

There is a multitude of optimization algorithms that can be used. The advantage of

the above presented algorithms is their simplicity. They can be categorized as local
search algorithms, which means that they use a type of heuristic, like SFi in Eq. (5).
As there are no simplifying assumptions, and every load is designed to be addressed
with a direct request, the problem presents itself to be massive and without useful
gradient information, which excludes classic optimization algorithms.
A suitable alternative would for example be “Simulated Annealing” (cf. [10]).
It is an algorithm that begins by amply exploring the solution space with random
solutions. A solution in this case is an allowable sequence of activation and pause
138 T. Haslak

for all loads. The algorithm continues by rejecting or accepting results, based on
the metaheuristic property (“temperature”). In principle this algorithm converges on
the global optimum solution, which local search algorithms are not systematically
capable of. The significant disadvantage is considerably higher run time. A prelimi-
nary test implementation shows that, after 14 h Simulated Annealing delivers results,
which are comparable to the Greedy strategy which takes approximately 15 min on
the same desktop computer (2.5 GHz Intel Core i7 with 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
memory).

6 Related Work

Gellings laid out the fundamentals of demand side management in [11].

The objective function and its definition are based on [12] and [13].
Weighted Fair Queuing and the approach of Generalized Processor Sharing are
based on [7, 8] and [14]. These original sources were used for the adaptation to
demand side management.
Most related work is based on [15] where an optimal deferrable load control
problem is defined. The focus is placed on market parameters which is why price
bounds are employed. [16] focuses on the problem laid out in this publication. To
solve this problem a decentralized algorithm is employed, which communicates the
power residual to all participants. This is in contrast to centralized solution efforts,
but capable of scheduling multiple instances of the same load. [17] utilizes a similar
approach but only for singular placement of loads in 24 h.
[18] uses a stochastic model which defers one activation of each load and no
reactivation. The underlying idea is very strongly connected to the paradigm of
grid operation. This means that the time scales of balancing power in the European
grid are adopted and all activity takes places in time steps of 15 min, and deferral
times are at least 4 h. The significant difference is the lack of understanding and
anticipating load behavior. The publication focuses on the simulation of wind power
only and the cost of demand side management.
[19] has a similar approach in that only one activation instance of every
participant is considered. The multitude of loads is approached as a combinatorial
problem. Here the smallest time step is one hour. In neither of these loads can extend
their operative time.
Formulated as a constraint problem regarding the availability of the demand
side, [20] manages a day-ahead scenario by interacting with energy markets. By the
introduction of welfare they move away from monetary quantification. They outline
the difference in time scale between markets (larger steps) and the load behavior
(smaller steps).
Weighted Fair Queuing for Deferrable Loads 139

Appendix

Fig. 7 Power consumption for a non-optimized reference run; 1 h equals 100 simulation units

Fig. 8 Power consumption for the Greedy algorithm

Fig. 9 Power consumption for the WFQ-Power algorithm

140 T. Haslak

Fig. 10 Power consumption for the WFQ-Time algorithm

Fig. 11 Power consumption for the WFQ-Geo algorithm

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Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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 Part IV
Planning and Operation of Distribution
Grids
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission
Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System
Model Presentation and Case Study on Evenstad

Dimitri Pinel, Magnus Korpås, and Karen B. Lindberg

Abstract Zero Emission Neighborhoods (ZEN) is a concept studied in particular

in the research center on ZEN in smart cities in Norway to reduce the CO2
emissions of neighborhoods. One question coming along this concept is how to
design the energy system of such neighborhoods to fit the ZEN definition[1]. From
this definition we extract the CO2 balance, requiring an annual net zero emission
of CO2 in the lifetime of the neighborhood. This paper proposes a MILP model
for obtaining cost optimal design of ZEN’s energy system and demonstrates it on a
case study. Different technologies are included as investment options and, notably
PV as a mean of producing electricity on-site. Wind turbines are not included in this
study because they would not be suitable in the context of most cities. The results
highlight the importance of PV investment in reaching the ZEN requirements. For
example, around 850 kW of solar is needed for our test cases of 10,000 m2 of floor
area, for an annual energy demand of around 700 MWh of electricity and 620 MWh
of heat. The investments in other technologies are small in comparison.

Keywords ZEN · Sustainable neighborhoods · Zero emission Neighborhoods ·

Energy system · CO2 emissions · Optimization

1 Introduction

A ZEN is a neighborhood that has a net zero emission of CO2 over its lifetime.
Many aspects are embedded in the idea of ZEN. Energy efficiency, materials, users
behavior, energy system integration are all aspects that need to be accounted for

D. Pinel () · M. Korpås

Deparment of Electric Power Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
Trondheim, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
K. B. Lindberg
SINTEF Community, Oslo, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 145

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_9
146 D. Pinel et al.

in this concept. In addition, different parts of the life cycle can be included but in
this paper we only consider the operation phase and no embedded emissions. Two
types of action exist to make neighborhoods more sustainable. One is to act on
the demand, via better insulation, user behavior or other efficiency measures. The
other is to act on the supply and have a local energy system minimizing the CO2
emissions. There is consequently a need for a way of designing the energy system
of such neighborhoods. The questions to be answered are, which technologies
are needed to satisfy the demand of heat and electricity of a neighborhood, and
how much of it should be installed so that it is as inexpensive as possible. The
problem is then to minimize the cost of investment and operation in the energy
system of a neighborhood so that it fulfills the ZEN criteria. This paper presents
an optimization model to solve such problems with a focus on operations research
methodology.

2 State of the Art and Contribution

The ZEN concept is specific to this particular project, however similar topics have
been studied in different settings either at the neighborhood level, the city level
or the building level, for example during the research center on Zero Emission
Building. In this context, K B Lindberg studied the investment in Zero Carbon
Buildings [2] and Zero Energy Buildings [3] which are variations around the concept
of Zero Emission Buildings. In both papers an optimization based approach is used
to study the impact of different constraints on the resulting design. The second
one [3] in particular uses binary variables to have a more realistic representation
of the operation part (part load limitation and import/export). In [4], Gabrielli et
al. tackle the problem of investment and operation of a neighborhood system and
show an approach allowing to model the system complexity while keeping a low
number of binary variables. It also constrains the total CO2 emissions. It uses
design days and proposes two methods for allowing to model seasonal storages
while keeping the model complexity and reducing the run time. In [5], Hawkes
and Leach look at the design and unit commitment of generators and storage in a
microgrid context using 12 representative days per season in a linear program. It is
particular in that it defines how much the microgrid would be required to operate
islanded from the main grid and include this in the optimization. It also discusses
the problematic of market models within microgrids. In [6], Weber and Shah present
a mixed integer linear programming tool to invest and operate a district with a
focus on cost, carbon emission and resilience of supply. A specificity of this tool
is that it also designs the layout of the heat distribution network taking into account
the needs of the buildings and the layout of each area. It uses the example of a
town in the United Kingdom for its case study. In [7], Mehleri et al. study the
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 147

optimal design of distributed energy generation in the case of small neighborhoods

and test the proposed solution on a Greek case. Emphasis is put on the different
layouts of the decentralized heating network. In [8], Schwarz et al. present a model
to optimize the investment and the energy system of a residential quarter, using
a two stage stochastic MILP. It emphasizes on how it tackles the stochasticity of
the problem in the different stages, from raw data to the input of the optimization,
and on the computational performance and scalability of the proposed method. In
[9], he also studies the impact of different grid tariffs on the design of the system
and on the self-consumption of the PV production. In [10], Li et al. separate the
investment and the operation into a master and a follower problem. The master
problem uses a genetic algorithm to find the optimal investment while a MILP is
used to find the operation in the follower problem. In [11], Wang et al. also use a
genetic algorithm, but at the building level and using a multi objective approach
focused on environmental considerations. A life cycle analysis methodology as
well as exergy consumption are used to assess the design alternatives. In [12],
Mashayekh et al. uses a MILP for sizing and placement of distributed generation
using a MILP approach including linearized AC-power flow equations. In [13],
Yang et al. also use a MILP approach for the placement and sizing problem but
consider discrete investment in technologies at the district scale. These papers give
us an overview of different methods for optimal investment in the energy system of
neighborhoods or buildings, but none apply the ZEN concept and the influence of
tight requirements on the CO2 emissions on the modelling and on the results has
not been demonstrated.
In this paper, the focus is put on getting a fast yet precise solution that can take
long term trends, such as cost reduction of technologies or climate. To this end, the
proposed model uses a full year representation, ensuring a correct representation
of seasonal storage of heat and electricity, and allows to divide the lifetime of the
neighborhood into several periods, each represented by one year. It is also different
by using the Zero Emission framework on a neighborhood level as a guide for
the emission reduction constraint. This adds an integral constraints coupling each
timestep and increasing the complexity of the problem. The use of binary variables
is limited to the minimum.

3 ZENIT Model Description

ZENIT stands for Zero Emission Neighborhoods Investment Tool. It is a linear

optimization program written in Python and using Gurobi as a solver. It minimizes
the cost of investing and operating the energy system of a ZEN using periods, with
a representative year in each period. Different technologies are available, both for
heat and for electricity. It is most suited for greenfield investment planning but can
148 D. Pinel et al.

also take into account an existing energy system. The objective function is presented
below:
 1 
Cidisc · xi + bhg · Chg + t ot Cimaint · xi
εr,D
i i
 /
f uel spot
+ εr,p ff,t,p · Pf,p + (Pt,p + P grid (1)
p t f
 0
imp gb_imp spot exp
+P ret ) · (yt,p + yt,p,est ) − Pt,p · yt,p
est

The objective is to minimize the cost of investing in the energy system as well as
its operation cost.
The operation phase can be separated in different periods during the lifetime of
the neighborhood, and one year with hourly time-steps is used for each period. In
addition to technologies producing heat or electricity, there is also the possibility
to invest in a heating grid represented by the binary bhg that also gives access to
another set of technologies that would be inappropriate at the building level. In the
equation above, the E represent discount factors either global for the whole study (3)
or for each period (2). They are calculated in the following way:

(1 + r)−p·Y R
r εr,p = (3)
t ot
εr,D = (2) r
1−(1+r)−Y R
1 − (1 + r)−D

The calculation assumes that reinvestment in this technology is made for the
whole lifetime of the neighborhood, and is discounted to year 0. The salvage value
is also accounted for. The formula used is:
/ N
i −1 0
Cidisc = Ciinv · (1 + r)(−n·Li )
n=0 (4)
Ni · Li − D
− · Ciinv · (1 + r)−D
Li
5 6
D
with : Ni = (5)
Li

exp
In the objective function, yt,p represent the total export from the neighborhood.
It is simply the sum of all exports from the neighborhood: ∀t, p

exp
 exp
 gb_exp pb_exp
yt,p = yt,p,g + (yt,p,est + yt,p,est ) · ηest (6)
g est
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 149

The most important constraint, and what makes the specificity of the “Zero
Emission” concept, is the CO2 balance constraint. It is a net zero emission constraint
of CO2 over a year. It takes into account the emissions from the used fuels and
electricity with the corresponding CO2 factors for the emission part and the exports
of electricity for the compensation part. In this study the same factor is used for
imports and for exports of electricity. This constraint is expressed below, ∀p:
 imp  gb_imp
((yt,p + yt,p,est ) · ϕeCO2 )
t est
   gb_exp
+ (ϕfCO2 · ff,t,p ) ≤ ( (yt,p,est
(7)
t f t est

pb_exp
 exp
+ yt,p,est ) · ηest + yt,p,g ) · ϕeCO2
g

In the particular ZEN framework of this study, the idea behind the compensation
is that the electricity exported to the national grid from on-site renewable sources
allows to reduce the national production, and thus to prevent some emissions from
happening. The corresponding savings, the compensation, stand on the right-hand
side of the equation. In the ZEN framework, this constraint is set as an annual
constraint. It can however also be used for shorter periods of time.
Other necessary constraints are the different electricity and heat balances which
guarantee that the different loads are served at all times. The electricity balance
is represented graphically in Fig. 1. The corresponding equations are also written
below. The electricity balance is particular because, we want to keep track of the
origin of the electricity sent to the battery. It is managed by representing each battery

Technologies
producing
electricity V
II
‘prod’ battery
III
Electric grid

Neighborhood
Including:
• Heat pumps
I • Electric boilers

‘grid’ battery
IV

Fig. 1 Graphical representation of the electricity balance in the optimization

150 D. Pinel et al.

as a combination of two other batteries: one is linked to the on-site production

technologies, while the other is connected to the grid. It allows to keep track of
the self-consumption and to differentiate between the origin of the energy for the
CO2 balance.
Node I (8) represents the main electric balance equation while II (9) and V (10)
are only related to the on-site production of electricity. Node II (9) describes that the
electricity produced on-site is either sold to the grid, used directly or stored, while
node V (10) states that at a given time step what is stored in the batteries is equal to
what is in excess from the on-site production.
Electricity balance I: ∀t, p

imp
 gb_dch pb_self c
 self c
yt,p + (yt,p,est + yt,p,est ) · ηest + gg,t,p
est g
   (8)
= de,t,p + dhp,t,p,b + Eb,t,p · Ab
e b hp b

Electricity balance II: ∀t, p, g

exp self c
gg,t,p = yt,p,g + gg,t,p + gt,p,g
ch
(9)

Electricity balance V: ∀t, p

  pb_ch
ch
gt,p,g = yt,p,est (10)
g est

Heat also has its own balance, that guarantees that the demand of each building
is met:
 
qγ ,t,p + qhp,t,p,b
γ ∈QHP b hp
  (11)
+ ηhst · qt,p,hst
dch
= Hb,t,p · Ab + qt,p
ch

hst b

Note that the demand is not divided between domestic hot water (DHW) and space
heating (SH).
The batteries are represented, as mentioned earlier and as seen on Fig. 1, as two
entities: one on the on-site production side and the other on the grid side. This
means that we have two “virtual” batteries with their own set of constraints as well
as constraints linking the two.
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 151

The first constraint is a “reservoir” type of constraint and it represents the energy
stored in the battery at each time-step: ∀t ∈ T ∗ , p, est

pb pb pb_ch pb_exp pb_self c

vt,p,est = vt −1,p,est + ηest · yt −1,p,est − yt −1,p,est − yt −1,p,est (12)

gb gb gb_imp gb_exp gb_dch

vt,p,est = vt −1,p,est + ηest · yt −1,p,est − yt −1,p,est − yt −1,p,est (13)

Equations (14), (16) and (17) link both batteries. They make sure the sum of the
stored energy in the “virtual” batteries is less than the installed capacity, and making
sure the rate of charge and discharge of the battery is not violated. ∀t, p, est

pb gb
vt,p,est + vt,p,est ≤ vt,p,est
bat
(14)

bat
vt,p,est ≤ xbat,est (15)

pb_ch gb_imp
yt,p,est + yt,p,est ≤ Ẏmax,est
bat
(16)

gb_dch gb_exp
yt,p,est + yt,p,est ≤ Ẏmax,est
bat
(17)

The storage level at the beginning and the end of the periods should be equal.
∀p, est

art,p,est = vend,p,est
bat bat
vst (18)

The heat storage technologies also have the same kind of equations as the
batteries, for example: ∀t ∈ T ∗ , p, hst
heat st or
vt,p,hst = vtheat
−1,p,hst + ηhst
st or heat st or
· qt,p,hst
ch
− qt,p,hst
dch
(19)

Equations (14) to (18) also have equivalents for the heat storages. However the heat
storages are not separated in two virtual entities since there is no export of heat from
the building.
The power exchanges with the grid are limited depending on the size of the
connection: ∀t, p

imp exp
 grid_imp,bat
(yt,p + yt,p + yt,p,est ) ≤ GC (20)
est

In order to not add additional variables, the mutual exclusivity of import and export
is not explicitly stated. It is still met however due to the price difference associated
with importing and exporting electricity.
152 D. Pinel et al.

In addition to the above equations, different constraints are used to represent the
different technologies included. The maximum investment possible is limited for
each technology. ∀i:

xi ≤ Ximax (21)

The amount of heat or electricity produced is also limited by the installed capacity:

∀q, t, p : qq,t,p ≤ xq (22) ∀g, t, p : gg,t,p ≤ xg (23)

The amount of fuel used depends on the amount of energy provided and on the
efficiency of the technology: respectively ∀γ ∈ F ∩ Q, p, t and ∀γ ∈ E ∩ Q, p, t
qγ ,t,p qγ ,t,p
fγ ,t,p = (24) dγ ,t,p = (25)
ηγ ηγ

For CHPs technologies, the Heat to Power ratio is used to set the production of
electricity based on the production of heat. ∀t, p
qCH P ,t,p
gCH P ,t,p = (26)
αCH P

For the heat pumps, the electricity consumption is based on the coefficient of
performance (COP).
∀hp, b, t, p
qhp,b,t,p
dhp,b,t,p = (27)
COPhp,b,t,p

The heat pumps are treated differently from the other technologies because they
are not aggregated for the whole neighborhood but are separated for each building.
This is because the COP depends on the temperature to supply, which is different
in passive buildings and in older buildings and which is also different for DHW and
for SH, and dependent on the temperature of the source. The source is either the
ground or the ambient air depending on the type of heat pump. The COP is then
calculated using a second order polynomial regression of manufacturers data [3]
and the temperature of the source and of the outside timeseries. The possibility to
invest in insulation to reduce the demand and improve the COP of heat pumps is not
considered. The global COP is calculated as the weighted average of the COP for
DHW and SH.
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 153

The solar technologies, solar thermal and PV, also have their own set of specific
constraints. ∀t, p:
PV
gt,p + gt,p
curt
= ηt,p
PV
· xP V · I RRt,p (28)

I RRt,p
ST
qt,p = xST · (29)
Gst c

The hourly efficiency of the PV system is calculated based on [14], and accounts
for the outside temperature and the irradiance. This irradiance on a tilted surface is
derived from the irradiance on a horizontal plane that is most often available from
measurements sites by using the geometrical properties of the system: azimuth and
elevation of the sun and tilt angle and orientation of the panels.
The irradiance on the horizontal plane data comes from ground measurements
from a station close to the studied neighborhood which can for example be obtained
from Agrometeorology Norway.1 The elevation and azimuth of the sun is retrieved
from an online tool.2 This calculation takes into account the tilt of the solar panel
and its orientation. Several assumptions were necessary to use this formula. Indeed,
the solar irradiance is made up of a direct and a diffuse part and only the direct part
of the irradiance is affected by the tilt and orientation. However there is no good
source of irradiance data that provides a distinct measurement for direct and diffuse
parts in Norway as far as the authors know. Thus we make assumptions that allow us
to use the complete irradiance in the formula. We assume that most of the irradiance
is direct during the day and that most is diffuse when the sun is below a certain
elevation or certain azimuths. This assumption gives a good representation of the
morning irradiances while still accounting for the tilt and orientation of the panel
during the day. On the other hand, this representation overestimates the irradiance
during cloudy days, when it is mostly indirect irradiance. Obtaining direct and
diffuse irradiance data would solve this problem.

4 Implementation

The model presented in the previous section has been implemented in the case of
campus Evenstad, which is a pilot project in the ZEN research center [15]. This
implementation of the model and the parameters used are presented in this section.
Campus Evenstad is a university college located in southern Norway and is made
up of around 12 buildings for a total of about 10,000 m2 . Most of the buildings
were built between 1960 and 1990 but others stand out. In particular two small
buildings were built in the nineteenth century and the campus also features two

1 lmt.nibio.no
2 Sun Earth Tools: https://www.sunearthtools.com/dp/tools/pos_sun.php
154 D. Pinel et al.

Table 1 Technologies used Inv. Cost Life- Efficiency

in the Evenstad case and their
(e/kW) time (%)
main parameters
Technology (Years)
Building
PV 1600 25 18
Solar Thermal 700 25 70
Air source HP 556 15 COPt
Ground source HP 444 15 COPt
Biomass Boiler 350 20 85
Electric Boiler 750 30 100
Gas Boiler 120 25 95
Neighborhood
Gas CHP 739 25 45th ; 35el
Biomass CHP 3300 25 40th ; 25el
Heat Pump 660 25 COPt
Electric Boiler 150 20 100
Gas Boiler 60 25 95

recent buildings with passive standards. The campus was already a pilot project in
the previous ZEB center and one of those buildings was built as a Zero Emission
Building. In addition, on the heating side a 100 kW CHP plant (40 kW electric)
and a 350 kW Bio Boiler both using wood chips were installed along with 100 m2
of solar collectors, 10,000 L of storage tank, 11,600 L of buffer tank and a heating
grid. On the electric side, the same CHP is contributing to the on-site generation as
well as a 60 kW photovoltaic system. A battery system is already planned to be built
accounting for between 200 and 300 kWh. Based on this we assume in the study an
existing capacity of 250 kWh. We keep those technology in the energy system of the
neighborhood for one part of the study. In addition, the heating grid is kept in all
cases (bhg = 1).
The technologies included in the study are listed in Table 1 along with the
appropriate parameters.
Two main sources for the parameters and cost of the technologies are used as
references for the study. Most of the technologies’ data is based on a report made
by the Danish TSO energinet and the Danish Energy Agency [16] on technology
data for energy plants. The other source includes the technology data sheets made
by IEA ETSAP [17] and is used in particular for the gas and the biomass CHP. The
cost of PV is based on a report from IRENA [18]. The two efficiencies reported
for the CHP plants correspond to the thermal and electrical efficiency, noted by a
subscript (t h for thermal and el for electrical). Note that: at the neighborhood level,
only ground source heat pump is considered (Table 2) and that PV is only considered
at the building level but the roof area limit to the size of the PV is not implemented.
The heat storage values are based on a data sheet by ETSAP [17] while the values
used for the batteries are based on a report from IRENA [19].
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 155

Table 2 Storage Inv. Cost Lifetime Efficiency

technologies used in the
Technology (e/kWh) (Years) (%)
Evenstad case and their main
parameters Battery 350 15 94
Heat Storage 75 20 95

Table 3 Fuel cost and CO2 Fuel Cost (e/kWh) CO2 Factor (gCO2 /kWh)
factors
Gas 0.055 277
Biomass 0.041 7
spot
Electricity Pt,p 17

The values in Table 3 come from different sources. The cost of biomass comes
from EA Energy Analyses [20], the cost of gas is based on the cost of gas for
non household consumers in Sweden3 (we assume similar costs in Norway). For
the technologies in Table 1, the O&M costs, expressed as a percentage of the
investment costs, are respectively: 1, 1.3, 1, 1.3, 2, 0.8, 2.3, 4, 5.5, 1, 1 and 5. For
the storage technologies in Table 2, the operating cost is 0. The CO2 factors of gas
and electricity for Norway are based on a report from Adapt Consulting [21] and
the CO2 factor for biomass is based on [22].
The electricity prices for Norway are based on the hourly spot prices for the Oslo
region in 2017 from Nordpool.4 On top of the spot prices, a small retailer fee and the
grid charges are added.5 The prices are rather constant with a fair amount of peaks
in the winter and some dips in the summer. This cost structure is close to the actual
structure of the electricity price seen by consumers. We assume hourly billing due
to its relevance to prosumers and its emergence in Norway.
The irradiance on the horizontal plane and temperatures are obtained and used
in the calculations as described in the previous section. The ground station used to
retrieve data is Fåvang, situated 50 km to the west of Evenstad. The electric and heat
load profiles for the campus are derived from [23]. The load profiles are based on
the result of the statistical approach used in these papers and the ground floor area
of each type of building on the campus. In addition, the domestic hot water (DHW)
and Space Heating (SH) are derived from the heat load based on profiles from a
passive building in Finland where both are known [24].
The problems are solved on a Windows 10 laptop with a dual-core CPU (i7-
7600U) at 2.8 GHz and 16 GB of RAM. Each case typically has about 450,000 rows,
600,000 columns and 2,400,000 non-zeros. They are solved using the barrier method
in Gurobi in about 150 s each.

3 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Gas_prices_for_non-

household_consumers,_second_half_2017_(EUR_per_kWh).png
4 https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/Market-data1/Dayahead/Area-Prices/ALL1/Hourly/?view=

chart
5 https://www.nve.no/energy-market-and-regulation/network-regulation/network-tariffs/statistics-

on-distribution-network-tariffs/
156 D. Pinel et al.

5 Results

The optimization was run several times with different conditions. It was run with
a yearly CO2 balance with and without including the energy system that already
exists at Evenstad. When the pre-existing energy system is included, the pre-
existing amounts of heat storage, PV, solar thermal and biomass heating (CHP and
boilers) represent the minimum possible investments in those technologies for the
optimization. The energy systems resulting from those optimizations are presented
on Fig. 2.
Both cases are interesting. Indeed the case with the pre-existing technologies
included in the optimization allows to know in which technology to invest to move
towards being a ZEN for the campus Evenstad while the case that does not include
the pre-existing technologies allows to see how it would look like if it was built today
from the ground up using the optimization model presented here and the given ZEN
restrictions.
A first observation from Fig. 2 is that the technologies already installed (heat
storage ST, biomass boiler BB, CHP, battery) do not get additional investments,
except for PV which gets a lot of additional investments to meet the ZEN criteria. In
addition to the large investment in PV the only additional investment for Evenstad
appears to be a heat pump. In the case without any pre-installed technologies the
system is quite different. There is still a need for investment in PV, though it is
slightly lower and the optimization does not chose to invest in a battery. On the
heating part the chosen design uses heat pumps and electric boiler in addition to a
heat storage smaller than already installed in Evenstad.

Fig. 2 Resulting energy system

Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 157

(a) (b)

Fig. 3 Self consumed electricity (blue) and total consumption (red) of electricity in the ZEN. (a)
Summer. (b) Winter

(a) (b)

Fig. 4 Import (red) and Export (blue) of Electricity from the ZEN. (a) Summer. (b) Winter

The results highlight the predominance of PV in the results. This shows that the
other possible designs are not cost competitive. Alternative designs, for example
relying on biomass CHP, could be incentivized to obtain a better mix of technology.
The amount of the incentive could be explored by a sensitivity analysis using this
model, but this remains as future work.
On Fig. 3, the self consumption and the total demand of electricity is presented
while on Fig. 4 it is the imports (red) and exports (blue) of electricity that are
presented. Both figures show a week for the case of the yearly balance and including
pre-existing technologies. In the summer the neighborhood produces electricity in
excess and needs to send it to the grid. The battery, that is part of the pre-existing
technologies, is used but is not large enough to allow for relying on self produced
electricity during the night. It is also not large enough to limit the amount of
electricity sent to the grid. Figure 4a illustrates this: the exports during the days
have highs peaks that represent around four times the night imports in terms of
peak power. This has implications on the sizing of the connection to the grid and is
especially important in the context of the introduction of new tariffs based on peak
power in Norway. Indeed, the introduction of smart-meters enables the use of more
158 D. Pinel et al.

complex grid tariff structures. Such tariffs would promote avoiding large peaks in
consumption. This may be beneficial to highly flexible neighborhoods such as ZENs
and might promote investment in batteries. Investigating the impact of grid tariffs on
the design of ZENs remains as future work. Outside of the ZEN context, a positive
impact of certain grid tariff designs has been shown on self-consumption and peak
electricity import [9]. In the winter, some of the electricity is still self consumed due
to the CHP that is part of the pre-existing technologies. This self consumption stays
limited and no electricity is exported.
Ultimately, all resulting designs require huge investment in PV to attain the status
of ZEN. In those systems, which rely heavily on electricity, heat pumps and electric
boilers appear to be the preferred heating solution.

6 Limitations

This study has several limitations, on the methodology and on the case study. For
the case study, assumptions were necessary due to the lack of data, in particular
for the loads or the insolation (diffuse and direct). For the methodology, the will
to limit the use of binary variables meant leaving out constraints such as part
load limitations which would be needed to have a better representation of some
technologies. In addition, using an hourly resolution leads to an underestimation
of the storages and possibly of the heating technologies size. There is a trade off
between the solving time and the precision of the results and the resolution needs
to be chosen accordingly. Additionally, being deterministic, the model leaves out
several uncertainties. Those uncertainties concern the evolution of the price of
the technologies, the electricity price or the price of other fuels and the climate
conditions. Those can be partially addressed by specifying additional periods in the
model. The short-term uncertainties are not included either and induce an overly
optimistic operation of the system. Despite those limitations it provides insights in
the design methodology that can be used to design the energy system of a ZEN. The
choice of CO2 factors for electricity is also greatly impacting the results and this
should be studied in more detail in future work.

7 Conclusion

This paper presented in detail the ZENIT model for investment in Zero Emission
Neighborhoods as well as its implementation and the results on a realistic case study
of campus Evenstad in Norway, with a focus on methods from the field of operations
research. The model is formulated as a MILP, using as few binaries as possible.
The Zero Emission constraint complexifies the problematic of designing the energy
system of a neighborhood and the long term trends can be accounted for by defining
periods. For Evenstad, the results suggest that additional investments, mainly in
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 159

PV, are necessary in order to attain the status of ZEN. Investments happen at both
levels but mainly at the building level. When the technologies already installed at
Evenstad are not included, they are not invested in (except for heat storage). The
optimal choice in order to become Zero Emission for Evenstad in the current ZEN
framework thus appears to be a massive investment in PV and a heating system
fueled by electricity. Further work includes disaggregating the heat part of the model
and a more detailed operation part in the optimization.
There are key takeaways for policy makers in this study, in particular for
Norway due to the setting of the case study. The results suggest that the Zero
Emission constraint used in this study is sufficient to get PV investment without any
additional incentive. However, under the CO2 factor assumptions used in this study,
huge investment in PV are made which would be problematic in case of a large-
scale application of the concept of ZEN. This suggests the need for incentives in
alternative technologies such as biomass CHPs in case the concept of ZEN becomes
more common. The methodology presented in this paper can be used to assess such
policies and their potential effect on investments in ZEN. Other policies such as the
grid tariff structure can also be studied with this model. Finally, the hourly limitation
on electricity export from prosumers has recently been replaced in Norway by a
tariff on exported electricity. The results of this paper suggest that without this
change in policy, ZEN would become even more expensive due to the necessity of
large batteries to make the exports more constant. We thus recommend continuing
on the path of facilitating the development of the number of prosumers for example
with the implementation of capacity grid tariffs. For countries other than Norway,
similar methodology can be used to assess the cost and design of ZEN. Further
policy recommendations cannot be drawn from this study due to the specificity of
the Norwegian electricity mix, that is reflected in its electricity CO2 factor.

Acknowledgements This article has been written within the Research Center on Zero Emission
Neighborhoods in Smart Cities (FME ZEN). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from
the ZEN partners and the Research Council of Norway.

Nomenclature
Indexes (Sets)

t (T ) Timestep in hour within year ∈ [0, 8759]

b(B) Building type
yr Year within period ∈ [1, Y R]
p Period
i(I) Energy technologies, I = F ∪ E ∪ HP ∪ S ∪ QST ∪ EST ; I =
Q ∪ G:
f (F ) Technology consuming fuel (gas, biomass, . . .)
e(E) Technology consuming electricity
hp(HP) Heat pumps technologies
160 D. Pinel et al.

s(S) Solar technologies ∈ ST , P V

qst (QST ) Heat storage technologies
est (EST ) Electricity storage technologies
q(Q) Technologies producing heat
g(G) Technologies producing electricity

Parameters

Cidisc Discounted investment cost, technology i with re-investments and

salvage value [e/kWh]
εr,p Discount factor, period p with discount rate r
D Duration of the study [yr]: D = P ∗ Y R
P Number of periods in the study [-]
Cimaint Annual maintenance cost [% of inv. cost]
f uel
Pf,p Price of fuel of technology g, period p [e/kWh]
spot
Pt,p Electricity spot price [e/kWh]
P grid Electricity grid tariff, period p [e/kWh]
P ret Retailer tariff on electricity, period p [e/kWh]
ηest Charge/Discharge efficiency of battery est [-]
ϕeCO2 CO2 factor of electricity [g/kWh]
ϕfCO2 CO2 factor of fuel f [g/kWh]
αCH P Heat to power ratio of the CHP [-]
GC Size of the neighborhood grid connection [kW]
Ximax Maximum possible installed capacity of technology i [kW]
Eb,t,p Electric specific load of building b in timestep t in period p
[kW h/m2 ]
Ab Aggregated area of building b in the neighborhood [m2 ]
Hb,t,p Heat specific load of building b in timestep t in period p
[kW h/m2 ]
ηi Efficiency of technology i [-]
COPhp,b,t,p Coefficient of performance of heat pump hp in building b in
timestep t in period p [-]
bat
Ẏmax Maximum charge/dis- rate of battery [kWh/h]
Q̇heat
max
st or Maximum charge/discharge rate of heat storage [kWh/h]
P
ηt,pV Efficiency of the solar panel in timestep t in period p [-]
Li Lifetime of technology i [yr]
Chg Cost associated with a heating grid for the neighborhood [e]

Variables

xi Capacity of technology i: for i ∈ {f ∪ e ∪ h ∪ s} [kW]; for i ∈

{qst ∪ est} [kWh]
ff,t,p Fuel consumed by technology f in hour t [kWh]
Cost Optimal Design of Zero Emission Neighborhoods’ (ZENs) Energy System 161

de,t,p Electricity consumed by technology e in timestep t [kWh]

dhp,b,t,p Electricity consumed by the heat pumps hp, in building type b
[kWh]
imp exp
yt,p , yt,p Electricity imported/exported from the grid to the neighborhood
at timestep t [kWh]
exp
yt,p,g Electricity exported by the production technology g to the grid at
timestep t [kWh]
self c
gt,p,g Electricity generated from the technology g self consumed in the
neighborhood, timestep t [kWh]
ch
gt,p,g Electricity generated from the technology g into the ‘prod’ batter-
ies at timestep t [kWh]
___
yt,p,est Electricity imp/exported by the battery est at timestep t [kWh]
(gb_exp, gb_imp or pb_exp)
gg,t,p Electricity generated by technology g in timestep t of period p
[kWh]
qq,t,p Heat generated by technology q in timestep t of period p [kWh]
gb_dch
yt,p,est Electricity discharged from the ‘grid’ battery est to the neighbor-
hood at timestep t [kWh]
pb_ch
yt,p,est Electricity charged from the neighborhood to the ‘prod’ battery
est at timestep t [kWh]
pb_self c
yt,p,est Electricity to the neighborhood from the ‘prod’ battery est,
timestep t [kWh]
ch
qt,p Heat “charged” from the neighborhood to the heat storage at
timestep t [kWh]
dch
qt,p Heat “discharged” from the neighborhood to the heat storage at
timestep t [kWh]
ch , q dch
qt,p Heat “charged”/“discharged” from the neighborhood to the heat
t,p
storage at timestep t [kWh]
gb pb
vt,p,est , vt,p,est ‘grid’/‘prod’ Battery est level of charge at timestep t in period p
[kWh]
heat st or
vt,p Heat storage level at timestep t in period p [kWh]
curt
gt,p Solar energy production curtailed [kWh]
bhg Binary variable for investment in a heating grid

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Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and
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The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative
Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
included in the chapter’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by
statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
Efficient Operation of Modular
Grid-Connected Battery Inverters
for RES Integration

Sabrina Ried, Armin U. Schmiegel, and Nina Munzke

Abstract Grid-connected battery storage systems on megawatt-scale play an

important role for the integration of renewable energies into electricity markets
and grids. In reality, these systems consist of several batteries and inverters, which
have a lower energy conversion efficiency in partial load operation. In renewable
energy sources (RES) applications, however, battery systems are often operated at
low power. The modularity of grid-connected battery storage systems thus allows
improving system efficiency during operation. This contribution aims at quantifying
the effect of segmenting the system into multiple battery-inverter subsystems on
reducing operating losses. The analysis is based on a mixed-integer linear program
that determines the system operation by minimizing operating losses. The analysis
shows that systems with high modularity can meet a given schedule with lower
losses. Increasing modularity from one to 32 subsystems can reduce operating
losses by almost 40%. As the number of subsystems increases, the benefit of higher
efficiency decreases. The resulting state of charge (SOC) pattern of the batteries
is similar for the investigated systems, while the average SOC value is higher in
highly modular systems.

Keywords Battery operation planning · Inverter · Energy efficiency ·

Optimization

S. Ried () · N. Munzke

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
A. U. Schmiegel
University of Applied Sciences Reutlingen, REFU Elektronik, Reutlingen, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s) 2020 165

V. Bertsch et al. (eds.), Advances in Energy System Optimization,
Trends in Mathematics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32157-4_10
166 S. Ried et al.

1 Introduction

Grid storage systems on megawatt scale play a vital role for the integration
of renewable energies into electricity markets and grids. Several investigations
focus on the development of optimized battery operation strategies [1–5]. For
several reasons, existing grid storage systems usually consist of multiple batteries
and inverters. For reasons of economies of scale, hardware manufacturers offer
components in limited number of size classes, allowing lower production costs.
Furthermore, the use of modular components supports the systems’ scalability. In
addition, the size of modular systems can be changed over their lifetime. Moreover,
modular systems avoid single points of failure, which leads to higher fault tolerance.
Although the modularity of existing grid storage systems is well known, most of the
analyses describe the storage system as a single battery combined with a single
inverter [1–9]. Few studies are known that analyze the modularity of grid-connected
battery systems and the related effect on system efficiency during operation and the
influence of these energy losses on the operating strategy of the system [10, 11].
The consideration of this architectural aspect in the model-based analyses of
battery operation provides a degree of freedom in optimizing the overall yield of
a grid storage system. Figure 1 shows an example for a grid storage system with
a high modularity. In this setup, three inverters and batteries are connected to one
point of common coupling.
Storage systems operated together with a renewable energy source are most likely
not charged and discharged at their nominal power. Figure 2 shows the frequency
of the operational inverter power over the course of a year for a large battery
that is operated together with a wind farm with the purpose of supporting market
integration of wind energy [14].
During 79% of the time, the system is in standby mode. During 5% of the time
the system is operated at less than 50% rated power, while during 14% the power
rating is between 80% and 100%.
This suggests the importance of energy conversion efficiency not only in full-
load operation, but also in standby mode and in partial-load operation. The inverter
efficiency, however, is a nonlinear function in terms of power flow (Fig. 3 with

Fig. 1 Example for a grid storage system realized as a combination of three single battery inverter
units (N = 3)
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 167

Fig. 2 Frequency distribution of operational inverter power in our case study over one year

Fig. 3 System efficiency for different number of inverters (N)

N = 1). In partial-load operation, the relative inverter losses are significantly higher
in comparison to relative losses at full-load operation. Because of the possibility
to use several inverter units, the efficiency is higher in high modularity systems. At
low power flows, using one smaller inverter unit can limit the losses. Figure 3 shows
the effect of number of inverters on the total efficiency curve. Here, we assume the
power rating of the total storage system to be constant. Therefore, the power rating
of the inverter and the constant losses scale with N1 . The impact on the efficiency is
evident up to a number of inverters of 4. Constant losses become less relevant with
the increase from 4 to 8 inverters.
Figure 3 provides an overview of the influence on the efficiency of modular
battery systems. For operating a system with higher modularity, with discrete
battery-inverter pairs, the operating strategy is more complex. Without an optimiza-
tion strategy, which combines knowledge about power transfer losses, the SOC of
the batteries and requests from the grid, suboptimal operating states can be realized,
which increases losses. Hence, the operating strategy has a significant influence on
168 S. Ried et al.

the yield of a grid storage system. In this study we avoid choosing an individual
optimization strategy by formulating an optimization problem. This optimization
problem is formulated in terms of power flows and minimizes the power losses of
the system. So, changes in the operating strategy, caused by increasing the number
of inverter-battery pairs, are identified by solving the optimization problem.
The target function optimizing the operating strategy of the system is purely
technical driven, i.e. we optimize in terms of power losses. Since most of the
business models for grid storage systems rely on the power in and outflows of the
system for economic evaluation, an optimization in terms of losses is always of
benefit for the system operator.
As there is no direct connection between the batteries on the DC-side the energy
management needs to take the state of charge of each battery into account. This
increases the complexity of the energy management strategy.
This study addresses the questions to which extent the segmentation of the system
into multiple battery-inverter subsystems can reduce operating losses and aims
at quantifying this effect. Therefore, we develop a mixed-integer linear program
that represents the operational strategy of an energy management system of such
a modular system as it could be applied in real applications. The mixed-integer
linear program determines the system operation for meeting a given schedule for
the whole system at the point of common coupling by minimizing inverter losses.
As a result, the required energy to be fed into or stored from the grid is allocated
over the different battery-inverter-subsystems. The resulting SOC of the batteries is
investigated and ideas for further investigations are derived.
Furthermore, the overall system topology has an influence on the power losses
and the operating strategy. This study reduces the complexity by looking for
identical battery-inverter pairs, which are coupled on the AC-side. A coupling on
the DC-side has not been investigated in this study.
This paper is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the mathematical model
and presents the data chosen for the analysis. Section 3 presents the results and
compares the efficiencies of systems with different degrees of modularity. Section 4
draws conclusions for the design of grid-connected battery systems.

2 Methodology

2.1 Mathematical Model

2.1.1 Power Flow Model

The grid storage system is described as a set of nodes, representing the discrete
time steps t with duration of the time steps d, with transfer of energy from one
node to another [12, 13]. In this model, each pair of inverter and battery represents a
single storage node. The inverter is only described by its influence on the power
transfer from the battery into the grid and vice versa. The SOC represents the
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 169

battery state of charge and interlinks the periods between each other, adding energy
flows, both for energy charged and energy discharged during the previous period. N
storage systems Si are connected to one point of common coupling. Gt represents
an additional connection to the grid. It serves as a backup when power requests to
the storage cannot be met and shall avoid infeasibility of the model.
Hereinafter, a power flow from node A to node B is described as AB and the
efficiency of this transfer is described as ηAB (AB ). Per definition, transfer losses
are assigned to the sink.
The underlying power model is generic and initially independent of the technical
implementation of the storage system. Different technologies might add different
boundary conditions and parameters to the power flow. All parameters underlying
the assumed technical realization are described in 2.1.3 to 2.1.5.

2.1.2 Consideration of Losses

The power transfer losses can be divided into constant, linear, and quadratic terms.
This results in the common representation of the inverter efficiency (1):
2
Pout = Pin − (aAB + bAB · Pin + cAB · Pin ) (1)

In case of battery storage systems, constant losses aAB have their origin in
auxiliary power, e.g. for the battery management system, active cooling and thermal
control of the battery cells, and other subsystems. These losses are independent
from the status of the inverter. Some systems can reduce the constant losses during
standby operation by switching off subsystems. We consequently assume that the
systems considered in our analysis can be turned off, avoiding standby losses during
operation, as it is shown to be possible in Munzke et al. [14].
Linear losses bAB are proportional to the rated power. They are mainly heat
losses. Furthermore, we consider battery efficiency. This is reflected by losses that
are proportional to the charging and discharging power.
Quadratic losses cAB represent losses caused by nonlinear saturation effects in
the inductance. In this work, the quadratic terms are not taken into account because
non-linear losses cannot be clearly observed in all inverter systems [14].
Self-discharge of the battery cells, here represented as power loss of the storage
path ηSS , is usually very low and thus neglected [14–16]. Moreover, we do not
consider the power supply of the battery management system (BMS).
We furthermore do not take into account losses which are independent of the
degree of modularity, such as the power consumption of sensors or the climate
control. Moreover, we do not consider transformer losses, neglecting the effect of
additional power flows, introduced for ensuring model feasibility, on transformer
losses.
Inverter loss data is obtained based on a curve fitting approach of the efficiency
curve of SMA’s 250 kVA inverter “Sunny Central” [17]. The battery loss parameters
are approximated based on data measured in Munzke et al. [14].
170 S. Ried et al.

2.1.3 Parameters and Decision Variables

Table 1 shows the exogenously given parameters used in the model. Table 2 lists the
decision variables as well as their lower and upper bounds. Power values are always
given in Watt. The penalty parameter p and two decision variables for additional,
unplanned power flows to and from the grid (GtL and GtC ) are introduced for
reducing deviations from the predetermined schedule and at the same time ensuring
the model solvability. The same penalty parameter is applied both for charging from
and discharging into the grid.

Table 1 Description of parameters

Parameter Description Unit
Gmax
Si Maximum charge power W
Simax
G
Maximum discharge power W
κ Storage power capacity W
N Number of inverters –
T Number of time steps per optimization –
d Duration of one time step t h
SOCit=0 Battery state of charge at t = 0 Wh
aSiG Constant power losses for discharging (of ith storage) W
aGSi Constant power losses for charging W
bSiG Linear inverter power losses for discharging %
bGSi Linear inverter power losses for charging %
cSiG Linear battery losses for discharging %
cGSi Linear battery losses for charging %
bSiS Linear power losses due to self-discharge of ith storage %
Gt Power demand at point of common coupling W
p Penalty for additional power flow –

Table 2 Description of decision variables

Variable Description Value Range
GtSi Power flow grid to ith storage [0, Gmax
Si ]

SitG Power flow ith storage to grid [0, Simax

G
]
SOCit Battery state of charge of the ith storage [Wh] [0, κ · t]
γGSi Binary variable for charging of ith storage ∈ {0; 1}
γSiG Binary variable for discharging of ith storage ∈ {0; 1}
GtL Additional power flow to grid [0, Gmax
Si · N]

GtC Additional power flow from grid [0, Simax

G
· N]
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 171

2.1.4 Target Function

The target function minimizes all losses and penalizes additional power flows (2).
The solution is obtained by carrying out one optimization for every hour, i.e. four
15-min time steps at a time.

 N 
T 
min Y = aSiG γSt i + aGSi γGt S + (bSiG + cSiG) · SitG
G i
t =1 i=1 (2)

+ (bGSi + cGSi) · GtSi + (GtL + GtC ) · p

The target function determines the behaviour of the optimized power management
strategy. In a modular system, the given power demand can be met by a subset of
inverters. Given the example of two inverters in Fig. 3, only one inverter is used
if it can provide the requested power, thus limiting constant losses. When power
demand exceeds the single inverter’s power rating, the second subsystem is used. In
this case, there is no incentive to operate the modules at different power. Therefore,
if charge and discharge power requests are sufficiently high, we expect a nearly
equal distribution on the SOC.

2.1.5 Constraints

Two binary variables are introduced for charging and discharging (γGSi , γSiG ∈
{0; 1}) in order to ensure that the storage system is not charged and discharged at
the same time (3).

γGSi + γSiG ≤ 1 (3)

The power flow at the point of common coupling is defined by Eq. (4):

Gt =GtL − GtC

T 
N (4)
− (GtSi + (1 − bSiG )SitG − aSiG γSt i )
G
t =1 i=1

Equation (5) describes the energy flow for each storage system. It is solved for
each hour independently. Therefore, the SOC t =0 is set as an external parameter. For
the subsequent iterations, the SOC-value of the first time step is set as parameter
172 S. Ried et al.

according to the solution of the optimization of the previous optimization.


SOCit = (1 − bSiS )SOCit −1 + (1 − bGSi · cGSi )GtSi
 (5)
−(1 − bSiG · cSiG )SitG − aSiG γSt i − aGSi γGt S · d
G i

In addition, Eqs. (6) and (7) assure that battery charging or discharging is only
realized if the binary variable is equal to 1.

GtSi − Gmax
Si γ Si ≤ 0
t
(6)
G

SitG − Simax
G
γSt i ≤ 0 (7)
G

Equations (8) and (9) set the boundaries for the power demand at the point
of common coupling. These boundaries are calculated outside of and prior to the
optimization.

Gt ≥ −Simax
G
·N (8)

Gt ≤ Gmax
Si · N (9)

2.1.6 Implementation

The model is implemented in MATLAB, using CPLEX as a solver. The solution is

obtained on an hourly basis in 15-min resolution with a MIP gap of 0.5%.

2.2 Data

The battery schedule was calculated by Ried et al. [4]. It results from a planned
operation of a 50 MW/100 MWh battery which is connected to a 50 MW wind
farm. The system participates in the German day-ahead and tertiary control reserve
markets. The battery schedule is a time series in 15-min resolution and obtained by
a mixed-integer linear program maximizing the contribution margin of the system.
For this study, the schedule is scaled to a 2 MW/2 MWh battery system and used as
the power demand at the point of common coupling Gt . Since it does not account for
detailed losses, the battery used for this study is scaled 30% larger. All assumptions
are given in Table 3.
Based on this data, the model is applied to six systems with varying degrees of
modularity (Table 4).
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 173

Table 3 Parameter values Parameter Value

Duration of one time step d 0.25 h
Number of time steps T 4
Storage power capacity κ 2.6 MW
Battery SOC SOCit=0 1.3 MWh
Maximum charge power Gmax
Si 2.6 MW
Maximum discharge power Simax
G
2.6 MW
Constant discharging losses aSiG 4.5% Gmax
Si
Constant charging losses aGSi 4.5% Gmax
Si
Linear discharging losses (inverter) bSiG 2.1%
Linear charging losses (inverter) bGSi 2.1%
Battery charging losses cGSi 2.5%
Battery discharging losses cSGi 2.5%
Linear losses of self-discharge bSiS 0%
Penalty for additional power flow p 1015

Table 4 Analyzed inverter numbers

No. of inverters No. of batteries Inverter size /kW Battery size /kWh
1 1 2,600 2,600
2 2 1,300 1,300
4 4 650 650
8 8 325 325
16 16 162.5 162.5
32 32 81.25 81.25

3 Results and Discussion

In this section, we compare the yearly losses and resulting battery operation for the
different systems, and discuss potential implications for the system layout.

3.1 Losses

Figure 4 shows the losses of systems with varying degrees of modularity relative
to the losses of the system with N = 1. In accordance with the assumption shown
in Fig. 3, the losses scale with the number of inverter-battery subsystems. By
increasing the number of inverters to 32, the operating losses can be reduced by
38%. The gradual decrease of operating losses declines as the modularity increases.
174 S. Ried et al.

Fig. 4 Yearly relative losses for different numbers of inverters

Fig. 5 Charge and discharge power in a single inverter system during operating mode

This effect can be explained if the distribution of charge and discharge power
over the course of one year for one and 32 inverters are compared. In a single
inverter system, 50–70% of the charge and discharge power, neglecting standby
mode, lies between 70% and 80% of the rated inverter power (Fig. 5). While 91% of
the energy is charged at a rated power above 70%, 88% of the energy is discharged
above 70% power rating. Power below 50% is requested during 29–31% of the time,
corresponding to 5–6% of the energy flow. This is the mode of operation in which
the individual inverter is less efficient and losses increase.
As the number of inverters increases, the maximum power of each inverter
decreases. Figure 6 shows the resulting distribution of charge and discharge power.
As expected, the most likely power is the maximum power of the inverter, which
corresponds to N1 of the maximum power of the single inverter setup. Only very few
events occur, where low power is requested.
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 175

Fig. 6 Charge and discharge power in a system with 32 inverters during operating mode

Fig. 7 The distribution state of charge over one year for a realization with one (left) and 32 (right)
battery systems

3.2 Battery Operation

A difference between the systems with one and 32 inverters is a different SOC-level
during the course of the year. Figure 7 shows the distribution of the state of charge
over the course of a year for systems consisting of one and 32 sub-systems. In the
non-modular system, the battery is operated at an average 13% SOC, while in the
high-modularity system the average SOC is 27%. While 86% of the SOC-values in
the non-modular system range between 10–20%, 57% of the SOC-values are in this
range in the system consisting of 32 inverters and batteries. Due to lower operating
losses, less energy is wasted and higher SOC-values occur more often.
Due to a larger number of batteries, there are relatively more downtimes of the
batteries in high-modularity systems. While the system consisting of one inverter
stands still during 79% of all periods, the sub-systems of the high-modularity
systems are in standby-mode during 87% of the time. This suggests a higher
176 S. Ried et al.

redundancy of the system consisting of 32 batteries, which could be beneficial in

case of failure, especially when power output must be guaranteed.

4 Conclusions

In summary, we have performed a study on the operating losses of grid-connected

battery storage systems on megawatt-scale consisting of several battery-inverter
subsystems. Therefore, we applied a mixed-integer linear program determining the
optimal operation of all sub-systems for a given schedule for the point of common
coupling of a case study where a battery is operated together with a wind farm.
The analysis shows that by increasing the system modularity, the frequency
of operating points at low power decreases, resulting in a reduction of operating
losses. The higher degree of freedom in modular systems thus allows following
a given schedule at lower losses. By increasing the modularity from one to
32 sub-systems, operating losses can be reduced by almost 40%. The effect of
modularity on efficiency is most evident for systems consisting of few sub-systems.
With increasing modularity, the gradual decrease of operating losses declines. The
resulting state-of-charge of the batteries shows a similar operation pattern for the
investigated systems. The avoidance of losses in high-modularity systems, however,
leads to a shift towards higher SOC levels.
We believe that this work motivates a modular layout of grid-connected battery
systems. A higher efficiency should translate into lower operating cost. Moreover,
the higher redundancy of modular battery systems can be advantageous particularly
in applications that must ensure the system’s availability. The related investment
cost is another aspect to consider when determining the system design. On the one
hand, very large inverter and battery systems might translate into lower investment
cost due to less balance of system components. A higher degree of modularity
could thus be associated with higher costs. The opposite could also be the case,
if the modularity enables the usage of standardized components produced in higher
volumes, overcompensating the higher costs for the peripheral components.
Further analyses could address the effect of considering monetary aspects within
the target function. Moreover, the penalty parameter ensures model feasibility,
but does not fully avoid additional power flows. Both the additional power flows
and the choice of the penalty parameter could be further investigated. In order
to penalize any deviation from the predetermined schedule, the same penalty
parameter was applied both for charging from and for discharging into the grid.
However, especially deviations leading to battery discharging might be less critical
and sometimes even desirable from energy system perspective, possibly leading to
positive revenues. This could be the case if the system participates in additional
electricity markets. Consequently, the value of the penalty parameter could be
different for positive and negative deviations and should be subject to further
research.
Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration 177

Maybe the most interesting potential for further research lies in the operation of
the different batteries, the effect on battery ageing and implications on technology
choice and system design. Our results show higher average SOC-levels of the
batteries in high-modularity systems. The average SOC has an impact on the
calendar ageing, so that higher SOC-levels could lead to reduced battery lifetime, at
least for most technologies. Another aspect worth investigating is the effect of higher
C-rates on battery degradation. Because of allocating the same requested power to
fewer batteries with lower capacities, the C-rates might be higher in high-modularity
systems. The modular system architecture might thus be more suitable for some
battery technologies than for others. The selection of one or more appropriate
battery technologies could positively influence battery lifetime.
Lastly, the battery management system determining the operational strategy
could be adapted in order to take quadratic losses into account or vary operating
patterns, SOC levels, and power requests for different storages. Moreover, asym-
metric system topologies would allow for stressing the batteries at different depths
of discharge and C-rates, even when running the same schedule. This might be an
argument for hybrid storage systems consisting of different battery technologies
with different characteristics and furthermore improve cycle ageing of the batteries,
another important factor for battery degradation.

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