Integrid - Bridging the Gap

46 Differences between both VPPs can also be seen when receiving the necessary data; the commercial VPP receives data (base line, real consumption) directly from the connected flexible units. For these market purposes, ELJ in most cases installed the RTUs. The RTUs are installed as an information communication interface solution. In contrast, the technical VPP receives the necessary data from the MDM (metering data base, a part of the DSO’s metering data management system), where special meters with double load profile are installed (billing and aggregation). Web services are established between the MDM and the technical VPP. Smart grid management tools consist of several services, developed as a software solution. These include the Load and RES Forecasting Service, MV Load Allocator (MVLA) and the Multi-Period Optimal Power Flow (MPOPF). MPOPF identifies technical problems that might arise within a specified time, e.g. 24 hours (predictive mode) or for the next hour (real time). By doing so, it allows flexibility to be pre-booked, thus avoiding grid problems. It is an algorithm capable of dealing with a vast range of DERs, e.g. DR services, generation increase and/or curtailment, energy storage, capacitor banks and on-load tap changers. The DSOTOOL - the VPP’s Auxiliary tool, is a separate tool and was developed for the DSO to use. It allows MPOPF to be triggered, viewing of results and the execution of the proposed active power changes. The main reason for the development of this tool was to enable the distribution grid operator to manage the flexibilities for the purposes of grid operation (DSO Tool, as explained above) and to simulate the behaviour of a TSO (TSO Tool), which is required to carry out the Cases of Use of the commercial VPP (HLUC12) and Traffic Light System (HLUC05). The TLS indicates the maximum activatable flexibility without violating grid constraints and operates as an auxiliary tool to the commercial VPP. It receives the necessary information on grid status from MPOPF. Results One of the main goals of the Slovenian demonstrator was to explore capability to solve grid constraint violations with the help of flexibility resources. Users connected to the DSO grid are able to provide the necessary flexibility, which is then managed and optimized by MPOPF. This tool, when empowered by a reliable network snapshot provided by the MVLA, is capable of building a predictive plan to avoid predicted technical problems. Results from HLUC01 The following table shows the KPIs that allow the performance of the MPOPF and MVLA tools to be evaluated. Firstly, MVLA proved that it is capable of providing a reliable network snapshot to MPOPF. It has properly corrected MV/LV substation forecasts in order to make them coherent with the forecasts available for the corresponding upstream feeder. Secondly, MPOPF has shown its key role in promoting the predictive assessment of network conditions. By managing available flexibility resources, this optimization tool was able to solve all the predicted technical problems within a computational time in line with daily operational requirements. With respect to the reduction of active power loss costs, MPOPF showed that it can also focus on this goal. However, this KPI could be considerable higher if: more flexible resources could participate (with a higher flexibility total) and if the flexible resources had less usage restrictions (e.g., activate only two times per day).