Optimal electric-distribution-grid planning considering the demand-side flexibility of thermal building systems for a test case in Singapore

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Applied Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114917· OSTI ID:1755191

Troitzsch, Sebastian ^[1]; Sreepathi, Bhargava ^[2]; Huynh, Thanh Phong ^[3]; Moine, Aurelie ^[3]; Hanif, Sarmad ^[4]; Fonseca, Jimeno ^[5]; Hamacher, Thomas ^[6]

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1. TUMCREATE
2. FCL
3. TUMCREATE, Singapore
4. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
5. Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore
6. Technische Universitat Munchen

The planning of district-scale electric grids, i.e., distribution grids, has traditionally relied on finding the most cost-effective design such that they are able to supply the peak loads in a district. With the advent of electric demand side flexibility (DSF), there is the opportunity to reshape peak loads such that the investment cost of the electric grid decreases in exchange for a minor increase in the operation cost. This paper formulates an optimal planning approach for the electric grid at the district scale, which incorporates the DSF from thermal building systems, e.g., heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and aims at minimizing the investment cost for the grid along with the operation cost of the flexible loads. This is subjected to the fixed electricity demand and thermal comfort constraints of building occupants. To this end, linear models for the thermal comfort in the buildings and the power flow in electric grid are considered. The approach is tested on a district planning test case based in Singapore, where the results show up to 30.9 % reductions in investment cost and up to 3.7 % reduction in total annualized cost. Urban planning authorities, developers and utility companies can all benefit from the presented approach to make optimized investment decisions. For building operators, the results point to the need of adopting their control systems for DSF.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1755191
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-143438
• Journal Information: Applied Energy, Vol. 273
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English