US-12626310-B2 - Enhancing distribution system resiliency using transactive mechanisms

Abstract

Computing apparatus and methods to increase operational flexibility in an energy distribution system include using a transactive mechanism to adjust voltage supplied to a power grid by one or more distributed energy resources (DERs). In some examples of the disclosed technology, the transactive mechanism is configured to cause the one or more DERs to adjust a corresponding supply of voltage to the power grid in order to reach a targeted voltage difference across terminals of a switching device of the power grid, thereby enabling the switching device to be switched to increase reliability of the power grid.

Inventors

• Bishnu P. Bhattarai
• Jing Xie
• Kevin P. Schneider
• Wei Du
• Laurentiu D. Marinovici

Assignees

• BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20210917

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising: performing a transactive mechanism with one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) for a power grid, wherein the transactive mechanism includes determining an effectiveness of offered supply from the one or more DERs for contributing to an achievement of a targeted voltage difference across terminals of a switching device of the power grid and identifying DERs of the one or more DERs having a highest effectiveness, wherein determining the effectiveness comprises converting the offered supply from first bids expressed in a form of energy price versus reactive power quantity to second bids expressed in a form of voltage price versus reactive power quantity, the voltage price versus reactive power quantity indicating network voltage sensitivity of a respective at least one of the DERs, and wherein the transactive mechanism is configured to, based on the second bids, determining a voltage adjustment for a subset of the DERs and based on the voltage adjustment, notify the identified DERs to cause the identified DERs to adjust a corresponding supply of voltage to the power grid in order to reach the targeted voltage difference; and in response to determining that the targeted voltage difference across the terminals of the switching device is reached, switching the switching device to stabilize the power grid.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transactive mechanism comprises generating, at the one or more DERs, respective supply curves reflecting a cost of providing reactive power to a supplier of the power grid, and wherein the first bids comprise the respective supply curves.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the transactive mechanism further comprises generating, at a distribution management system (DMS), a demand curve based on the targeted voltage difference and the supply curves of the DERs.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the transactive mechanism further comprises aggregating, at a market operation system, the supply curves from the DERs and clearing the demand curve based on an intersection between the aggregated supply curves and the demand curve.
5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the effectiveness of the offered supply includes determining an effectiveness of each of the respective supply curves for contributing to the achievement of the targeted voltage difference based on respective locations of the DERs.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the transactive mechanism further comprises informing the identified DERs of a requested change in voltage to be supplied, wherein the requested change in voltage is based on the intersection between the aggregated supply curves and the demand curve.
7. 7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the energy price comprises price per unit of reactive power.
8. 8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the transactive mechanism utilizes a double auction market to clear the demand curve.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DERs include third-party DERS, the method further comprising, prior to performing the transactive mechanism, controlling utility-owned DERs that are directly controlled by a distribution management system of the power grid to adjust a voltage supplied to the power grid based on the targeted voltage difference.
10. 10 . A distribution management system (DMS) for a power grid, comprising: memory for storing executable instructions; and one or more processors that execute the instructions to: monitor the power grid; determine a switching operation for a switching device in the power grid to increase a stability of the power grid; determine an adjustment to a voltage difference across terminals of the switching device to enable performance of the switching operation; output, to a market computing system, a demand curve based on the adjustment to the voltage; receive, via the market system, an indication of market-cleared supply curves from one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) of the power grid identified as having a highest effectiveness of offered supply for contributing to an achievement of the adjustment to the voltage based at least in part on respective locations of the one or more DERs, wherein the market-cleared supply curves are converted from first bids expressed in a form of energy price versus reactive power quantity to second bids incorporating voltage sensitivity expressed in a form of voltage price versus reactive power quantity to reflect an effectiveness of a corresponding offered supply in terms of the demand curve; based on the second bids, determining a respective voltage adjustment for a subset of the DERs; determine that respective voltage supplies from the one or more DERs provide the respective voltage adjustment to the voltage difference across the terminals of the switching device; and perform the switching operation on the switching device.
11. 11 . The DMS of claim 10 , wherein the switching operation is performed responsive to determining that the respective voltage supplies provide the adjustment to the voltage difference, and wherein the instructions are further executed to output an updated demand curve to the market computing system to perform another transactive mechanism responsive to determining that the respective voltage supplies from the one or more DERs cause a resulting voltage difference across the terminals of the switching device that is outside a targeted voltage range for performing the switching operation.
12. 12 . The DMS of claim 10 , wherein: the one or more DERs include third-party DERs; and the instructions are further executable to control additional, utility-owned DERs directly to adjust a voltage supplied to the power grid based on the determined adjustment.
13. 13 . The DMS of claim 12 , wherein the demand curve is based on a remaining adjustment to the voltage difference to enable performance of the switching operation after the voltage supplied to the power grid by the utility-owned DERs is adjusted.
14. 14 . The DMS of claim 10 , further comprising a module for implementing transactive energy algorithm TEA 1, the module being used to perform at least one of: determining the switching operation, determining the voltage difference adjustment, or producing the demand curve.
15. 15 . The DMS of claim 10 , further comprising a module for implementing transactive energy algorithm TEA 2, the module being used to perform at least one of: determining the switching operation, determining the voltage difference adjustment, or producing the demand curve.
16. 16 . A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving a demand curve, wherein the demand curve is based on a targeted voltage adjustment for a voltage difference across terminals of a switching device of a power grid determined by a distribution management system (DMS) to enable performance of a switching operation on the switching device for stabilizing the power grid; receiving supply curves from one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) for supplying voltage to the power grid, the supply curves comprising first bids expressed in a form of energy price versus reactive power quantity; determining an effectiveness of each of the one or more DERs to clear the demand curve based on the respective supply curves and a respective location of the one or more DERs, wherein determining the effectiveness comprises converting the supply curves to second bids expressed in a form of voltage price versus reactive power quantity, the voltage price versus reactive power quantity indicating network voltage sensitivity for respective the one or more DERs; based on the second bids, determining a voltage adjustment for a subset of the DERs; and transmitting incentive signals indicating the voltage adjustment to the subset of the one or more DERs based on the determined effectiveness, the transmitted incentive signal causing at least one of the subset of DERs to adjust a respective voltage supplied to the power grid to reach the targeted voltage adjustment across the terminals of the switching device, wherein the switching operation is performed responsive to reaching the targeted voltage adjustment across the terminals of the switching device.
17. 17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , wherein the supply curves reflect a cost of providing, with the respective DERs, reactive power to a supplier of the power grid.
18. 18 . The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , further comprising aggregating the supply curves and determining an intersection between the demand curve and the aggregated supply curves.
19. 19 . The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein the incentive signals include an indication of the intersection between the demand curve and the aggregated supply curves.
20. 20 . The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , further comprising notifying the DMS of the aggregated supply curves.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/079,525, filed Sep. 17, 2020, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT This invention was made with Government support under Contract DE-AC0576RL01830 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in the invention. FIELD The field is electrical power distribution systems. BACKGROUND Reconfiguring power distribution after an outage may be performed to restore service to the maximum number of end-use customers. However, the ability to reconfigure the system can be constrained due to voltage and rating limits on equipment. Thus, there remains ample opportunity for methods and devices to provide such reconfigurations in consideration of equipment ratings without the attendant drawbacks. SUMMARY According to an aspect of the disclosed technology, methods include performing a transactive mechanism with one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) for a power grid, wherein the transactive mechanism is configured to cause the one or more DERs to adjust a corresponding supply of voltage to the power grid in order to reach a targeted voltage difference across terminals of a switching device of the power grid, and, in response to determining that the targeted voltage difference across the terminals of the switching device is reached, switching the switching device to stabilize the power grid. According to another aspect of the disclosed technology, a distribution management systems (DMS) for a power grid include memory for storing executable instructions and one or more processors that execute the instructions to monitor the power grid and determine a switching operation for a switching device in the power grid to increase a stability of the power grid. The instructions may also be executable to determine an adjustment to a voltage difference across terminals of the switching device to enable performance of the switching operation, and output, to a market computing system, a demand curve based on the adjustment to the voltage. The instructions may further be executable to receive, via the market system, an indication of market-cleared supply curves from one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) of the power grid, determine that respective voltage supplies from the one or more DERs provide the adjustment to the voltage difference across the terminals of the switching device, and perform the switching operation on the switching device. According to another aspect of the disclosed technology, methods include receiving a demand curve, wherein the demand curve is based on a targeted voltage adjustment for a voltage difference across terminals of a switching device of the power grid determined by a distribution management system (DMS) to enable performance of a switching operation on the switching device for stabilizing the power grid, and receiving supply curves from one or more distributed energy resources (DERs) for supplying voltage to the power grid. The methods further include determining an effectiveness of each of the one or more DERs based on the respective supply curves and a respective location of the one or more DERs, and transmitting incentive signals to a subset of the one or more DERs based on the determined effectiveness to request that the DERs adjust a respective voltage supplied to the power grid to reach the targeted voltage adjustment across the terminals of the switching device, wherein the switching operation is performed responsive to reaching the targeted voltage adjustment across the terminals of the switching device. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the disclosed technology will become more apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electrical power distribution system including a market operation device, as can be implemented in certain examples of the disclosed technology. FIG. 2 shows example supply and demand curves used for a first example transactive energy algorithm implemented according to the disclosed technology. FIG. 3 shows example supply and demand curves used for a second example transactive energy algorithm implemented according to the disclosed technology. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example method for a distribution system operator performing a transactive mechanism in a power grid. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an example method for a market operation system managing a transactive mechanism in a power grid. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example computing environment that can be used to carry out various disclosed methods. FIG. 7 depicts a test system having four operational distribution circuits, as can be used in certain examples of the disclosed technology. DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Introduction to t