EURO 2025 Leeds
Abstract Submission

2509. Multi-Stage Distribution Expansion Planning with Flexible and Controllable Distributed Energy Resources

Invited abstract in session MD-44: Decentralized energy system integration modelling, stream Energy Economics & Management.

Monday, 14:30-16:00
Room: Newlyn 1.01

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Alfredo Ernesto Oneto
D-MAVT, ETH Zurich
2. Blazhe Gjorgiev
Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich
3. Giovanni Sansavini
ETH

Abstract

The ongoing transition to low-carbon energy systems drives the increasing adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs). These DERs include heat pumps (HPs), electric vehicles (EVs), rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and battery energy storage systems (BESSs). These technologies affect the operation of power distribution networks (DNs), which were not originally designed to accommodate DERs. Consequently, planning DNs with DER integration requires comprehensive modelling of their flexibility to ensure reliable operation while minimizing capital investments and variable costs.
In this context, the distribution expansion planning (DEP) problem provides optimal DN design solutions, minimizing investment and operational costs while meeting service requirements. Existing DEP studies often overlook the flexibility potential of DERs. This work addresses this gap by exploring the mixed-integer multi-stage DEP problem that accounts for DER flexibility provision, allowing for line and transformers expansion and BESS placement. Different levels of DER penetration are considered through the planning horizon to model their rising deployment. Moreover, we leverage the control of HPs, considering the thermal modelling of buildings, flexible EV charging with energy and power bounds, reactive power capabilities of PVs, and BESS operation. We use an open-source dataset of representative DNs in Switzerland, developed in our previous work, to evaluate the proposed approach.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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