Energy management and flexibility quantification in a discrete event distribution grid simulation

Abstract: Distribution grid operation faces new challenges caused by a rising share of renewable energy sources and the introduction of additional types of loads to the grid. With the increasing adoption of distributed generation and emerging prosumer households, Energy Management Systems, which manage and apply flexibility of connected devices, are gaining popularity. While potentially beneficial to grid capacity, strategic energy management also adds to the complexity of distribution grid operation and planning processes. Novel approaches of time-series-based planning likewise face increasingly complex simulation scenarios and rising computational cost. Discrete event modelling helps facilitating simulations of such scenarios by restraining computation to the most relevant points in simulation time. We provide an enhancement of a discrete event distribution grid simulation software that offers fast implementation and testing of energy management algorithms, embedded into a feature-rich simulation environment. Physical models are specified using the Discrete Event System Specification. Furthermore, we contribute a communication protocol that makes use of the discrete event paradigm by only computing flexibility potential when necessary.