Optimal Dispatching Strategy for Virtual Power Plants Based on Distributed Optimization Considering Network Constraints

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are widely integrated in distribution networks recently because of their flexibility, environmental friendliness and economy, however, which also brings some issues to the power system at the same time such as change of power flow direction, network congestion, voltage flicker and so on. As the entity to address these issues, virtual power plants (VPPs) are able to aggregate the DERs and coordinate them in a more efficient way via advanced measurements and communication devices. In this paper, an optimal dispatching model for the VPPs based on the distributed optimization algorithm is proposed, which can minimize the DERs dispatching cost of the VPP while considering the network constraints and satisfying the operation requirements of the distribution system operator (DSO). Moreover, due to the centralized model may cause privacy issue, the proposed dispatching model is formulated as a decentralized manner that can protect the DER users’ private information. The IEEE 30-bus distribution network is employed to carry out the case studies and the simulation results validate the feasibility of the proposed method.The case studies are carried out based on the IEEE 30-bus distribution network and the simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed model.