JP-7854892-B2 - Output control device

Inventors

• 三宅 治良
• 渡邉 崇之
• 木村 駿介
• 川▲崎▼ 宏樹

Assignees

• 東京瓦斯株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20220801

Claims (8)

1. An output control device that consumes electricity generated by a power generation device and discharged from a storage battery in accordance with the load on the consumer side, and, upon receiving an adjustment command in which the time period for supplying electricity and the amount of electricity required are set , supplies a portion of the electricity generated by the power generation device and discharged from the storage battery to the adjustment unit , A selection unit that selects either a normal mode in which power generation and discharge are performed in accordance with the load up to a preset rated output limit, or a limited mode in which power generation and discharge are performed in accordance with the load up to an output lower than the rated output limit, If there is no request for the supply of the aforementioned power, the selection unit selects the normal mode; if there is a request for the supply of the aforementioned power, the output control unit selects the restricted mode and controls the output, provided that the amount of power whose generation or discharge is restricted during a specific time period within a predetermined determination period can be offset by the amount of power generated or discharged during time periods other than the specific time period. An output control device having
2. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met if a power generation shutdown is scheduled in the operation plan for the period following the aforementioned determination period.
3. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met if, in the operation plan for the period following the aforementioned determination period, a power generation shutdown is scheduled and the duration of the power generation shutdown is longer than or equal to a predetermined period.
4. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the above condition is met when the customer's load is within a predetermined range.
5. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met when the remaining charge of the storage battery becomes empty based on the weather during the period following the aforementioned determination period, or an operating plan based on factors including the electricity charges of the commercial power supply.
6. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met if, based on an operating plan including the weather for the period following the aforementioned determination period or the electricity charges of the commercial power supply, the remaining charge of the storage battery becomes depleted even when output control is performed in the aforementioned limiting mode.
7. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met if the battery becomes empty during the determination period, by comparing past power demand with the battery's charge level.
8. The output control device according to claim 1, which determines that the condition is met when the frequency of the battery being completely empty, based on past operating performance, exceeds a predetermined value.

Description

This invention relates to an output control device that provides power in response to a power adjustment command. Conventional technologies for controlling energy such as electricity used in homes include home energy management systems (HEMS). Furthermore, with the recent proliferation of small-scale power generation equipment installed in homes and buildings, virtual power plant (VPP) technology, which controls multiple such equipment to function as a single power plant, has become known. Small-scale power generation equipment, such as a household fuel cell system, comprises a power generation device and a battery for storing the generated electricity. A VPP coordinating entity (e.g., a resource aggregator) can command residential fuel cell systems to adjust their power output, thereby aggregating electricity from multiple residential fuel cell systems and making them function as a single power plant. In a household fuel cell system, during normal operation, when the fuel cell and battery reach their rated power generation and discharge outputs, the system has no room to increase its output. Even if there is surplus capacity at other times that could be used to supply electricity, the contracted amount of power source for activation in the capacity market will be limited. Furthermore, the capacity market is a market aimed at securing necessary power sources. Other markets include the supply and demand adjustment market (aimed at balancing supply and demand) and the wholesale electricity market (aimed at the buying and selling of kWh between power generators and retailers). Patent Document 1 describes a storage system comprising: a fuel cell capable of generating electricity using fuel and supplying generated electricity to a residential load connected to a grid power source; a storage battery capable of charging and discharging according to the electricity demand of the residential load after the power generated by the fuel cell has been supplied; a solar power generation unit capable of generating electricity using natural energy and charging the storage battery with the generated electricity; and a control unit that controls the operation of the fuel cell. The control unit is described as suppressing the power generated by the fuel cell when predetermined conditions set according to electricity trading are met. In other words, Patent Document 1 describes a basic control method that allows for the suppression of the fuel cell's power generation when certain conditions are met. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-032067 This is an overall configuration diagram of the virtual power generation system according to this embodiment.This is a block diagram showing the processing flow of the command system of the virtual power generation system according to this embodiment.(A) is a power allocation processing routine based on an adjustment force command in the power allocation control device according to this embodiment, (B) is a condition change routine, and (C) is a flowchart showing the routine to be executed when the condition is changed.(A) is a control flowchart showing the detailed flow of the condition change processing subroutine in step 106 of Figure 3, and (B) is a front view of the condition change screen displayed on the monitor during the condition change processing.(A) is a diagram illustrating the power generation control characteristics of the fuel cell in restricted mode, and (B) is a diagram illustrating the power generation control characteristics of the fuel cell in normal mode. [Virtual Power Generation System] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the virtual power generation system 10 (VPP/Virtual Power Plant) according to this embodiment. The virtual power generation system 10 generally refers to a system that combines various power sources such as renewable energy, storage batteries, and private power generation devices to provide a stable power supply to a region, as if there were one large power plant. The virtual power generation system 10 according to this embodiment is a system that virtually controls, for example, power supply sources (fuel cell systems 16, described later) within the same area, and functions as a power infrastructure that replaces conventional large-scale power plants. The virtual power generation system 10 consists of a power market 12 that can utilize the virtual power plant (such as a supply and demand adjustment market where general transmission and distribution operators balance supply and demand), multiple adjustment entities 14 that receive adjustment force commands (details described later) from the power market 12, and multiple power supply control devices 18 that control the power supply from the fuel cell system 16 based on the adjustment force commands from each of the multiple adjustment entities. Furthermore, the electricity market 12 is not limited to general transmission and distribution companies; it also includes cases where, for example, compan