Evaluation of Four European Local Flexibility Market Operators with the aim of Reducing Grid Investment Through Reinforcements

Abstract

Over the years, more distributed generation based on renewable energy sources are added to the distribution networks, therefore, active distribution network management is necessary to address local network congestion and voltage issues. Congestion control is one of the most hopeful approaches to resolving network issues among the diverse options. Traditionally, the transmission grid has been the level at which congestion management systems have been managed. However, the control method would have to be extended to the distribution network as well due to the widespread use of Distributed Generators (DGs) and the predicted harsh loading situations. Recently, scholars and others working in the electric grid industry have been more interested in strategies for reducing congestion in distribution networks and non-market-based approaches have been proposed. However, it might not be the best and most economical choice depending on the use case scenario. This paper presents an evaluation of four local flexibility market operators with the aim of reducing investment on the grid through network reinforcement. While network reinforcement is expensive, it is often the first option used by DSOs to address congestion issues since DSOs have done it repeatedly and are technically capable of doing so. In addition, reinforcement is a trustworthy solution. To address these problems based on the market, local flexibility markets are being developed. Flexibility markets are an effective strategy for maximizing the efficiency of the current distribution grids. Piclo Flex, Enera, GOPACS, and NODES are four innovative initiatives that incorporate flexibility markets that we evaluated in this thesis. There are differences amongst the projects in terms of the degree to which the flexibility markets are integrated into other existing markets, the quality of flexible service, the third-party market operators, the use of standardized commodities, and grid rules that require TSO-DSO/DSO-DSO coordination. Because each project has a unique vision, set of use cases, or level of project maturity, the answers to these questions vary. Our case study examination of the four ground-breaking projects will help the reader to understand the local flexibility markets and identify the most promising flexibility market operator to use when we are trying to postpone or defer network reinforcement which in turn reduces the investment on the grid.