TY - JOUR

T1 - Choosing the right model for unified flexibility modeling

AU - Brandt, Jonathan

AU - Frost, Emilie

AU - Ferenz, Stephan

AU - Tiemann, Paul Hendrik

AU - Bensmann, Astrid

AU - Hanke-Rauschenbach, Richard

AU - Nieße, Astrid

N1 - Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This work was funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture under Grant Number 11–76251-13–3/19 - ZN3488 (ZLE) within the Lower Saxony “Vorab” of the Volkswagen Foundation and was supported by the Center for Digital Innovations (ZDIN).

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Using aggregated flexibility from distributed small-scale power devices is an extensively discussed approach to meet the challenges in modern and increasingly stochastic energy systems. It is crucial to be able to model and map the flexibility of the respective power devices in a unified form to increase the value of the cumulative flexibility from different small-scale power devices by aggregation. In order to identify the most suitable approach for unified flexibility modeling we present a framework to evaluate and compare the advantages and disadvantages of already existing modeling approaches in different levels of detail. As an introduction to flexibility modeling and as a basis for the evaluation process we initially provide a comprehensive overview of the broad range of flexibility models described in scientific literature. Subsequently, five selected modeling approaches allowing the generation of a unified flexibility representation for different power devices are presented in detail. By using an evaluation metric we assess the suitability of the selected approaches for unified flexibility modeling and their applicability. To allow a more detailed performance analysis, the best evaluated models are implemented and simulations with different small-scale devices are performed. The results shown in this paper highlight the heterogeneity of modeling concepts deriving from the various interpretations of flexibility in scientific literature. Due to the varying complexity of the modeling approaches, different flexibility potentials are identified, necessitating a combination of approaches to capture the entire spectrum of the flexibility of different small-scale power devices. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a complex model does not necessarily lead to the discovery of higher flexibility potentials, and recommendations are given on how to choose an appropriate model.

AB - Using aggregated flexibility from distributed small-scale power devices is an extensively discussed approach to meet the challenges in modern and increasingly stochastic energy systems. It is crucial to be able to model and map the flexibility of the respective power devices in a unified form to increase the value of the cumulative flexibility from different small-scale power devices by aggregation. In order to identify the most suitable approach for unified flexibility modeling we present a framework to evaluate and compare the advantages and disadvantages of already existing modeling approaches in different levels of detail. As an introduction to flexibility modeling and as a basis for the evaluation process we initially provide a comprehensive overview of the broad range of flexibility models described in scientific literature. Subsequently, five selected modeling approaches allowing the generation of a unified flexibility representation for different power devices are presented in detail. By using an evaluation metric we assess the suitability of the selected approaches for unified flexibility modeling and their applicability. To allow a more detailed performance analysis, the best evaluated models are implemented and simulations with different small-scale devices are performed. The results shown in this paper highlight the heterogeneity of modeling concepts deriving from the various interpretations of flexibility in scientific literature. Due to the varying complexity of the modeling approaches, different flexibility potentials are identified, necessitating a combination of approaches to capture the entire spectrum of the flexibility of different small-scale power devices. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a complex model does not necessarily lead to the discovery of higher flexibility potentials, and recommendations are given on how to choose an appropriate model.

KW - Distributed energy systems

KW - Evaluation of flexibility modeling approaches

KW - Flexibility modeling

KW - Unified flexibility representation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134074381&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1186/s42162-022-00192-w

DO - 10.1186/s42162-022-00192-w

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85134074381

VL - 5

JO - Energy Informatics

JF - Energy Informatics

IS - 1

M1 - 10

ER -