SKOLTECH Project: Smart operation control system for integrated electricity and heat/cold supply system for local territories on the basis of a virtual power plant concept, 2015-2017

The Smart Grid technology intensively developed in many countries is considered as a technological platform for the electric power industry of the future. In the past years the Smart Grid ideology has been extended to the other energy systems, first of all to the heat and cold supply systems. For Russia this area is extremely relevant particularly for local (remote and isolated) territories where energy supply systems require modernization, reconstruction and expansion on the basis of innovative technologies. Bearing in mind the importance for Russia of the distributed generation expansion on the basis of mini-cogeneration plants which cogenerate electricity, heat and cold, it is reasonable to consider the integrated systems for electricity and heat/cold supply to the local territories.

The wide use of the distributed generation sources brought about the notion of a virtual power plant. The virtual power plant concept suggests interconnecting a group of distributed generation plants by means of a common control system of their operation. It is sensible to extend this concept to the integrated electricity and heat/cold supply systems since the control of their operation covers the distributed generation plants and renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, active adaptive devices of electrical and heat networks, and includes active electricity and heat/cold consumers.

The project objective is to design an intelligent control system for the integrated electricity and heat/cold supply system of local territories based on the virtual power plant concept. To achieve this objective the project formulates the following problems to be solved.

• Generalization of the virtual power plant concept to the integrated electricity and heat/cold supply system including the distributed cogeneration plants, renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, active and adaptive devices of electrical and heat networks, active electricity and heat/cold consumers.

•   Construction of the structure of integrated operation control system for integrated virtual power plant including the system of interrelated models and methods for operation control of the integrated energy system.

• Development of the solution on the configuration and technology of the intelligent system to be designed to control the energy supply system operation in the Russky Island.

•   Execution of joint calculations of electricity and heat supply systems for Novo-Lenino district in Irkutsk.

• Performance of studies on the integrated energy sources.