Community Welfare Optimal Power Dispatch Considering Closed Distribution Systems and Renewable Energy Sources
Regulatory boards are promoting closed distribution systems (CDS), different from traditional public-access networks, which can be owned and managed by energy communities (ECs). The inclusion of local renewable energy potential and an adequate schedule of storage devices in a CDS allow cooperation among the EC's members in order to reduce operational expenditure (OPEX) with internal competitive electricity prices with respect to those provided by public-regulated networks and electricity markets. The CDS operators can assume a new role as centralized energy dispatchers of generation and storage assets in order to maximize the profits of the members of the EC. This paper proposes an innovative optimal active and reactive power dispatch model for maximum community welfare conditions. A key difference between this proposal and existing social-welfare-based dispatches on public-access networks is the exclusion of the profit of the external wholesale electricity market. The focus of the proposed method is to maximize the welfare of all community members. A remuneration framework based on a collective EC with a single frontier is adopted, considering agreements between members based on locational marginal pricing (CDS-LMP). Results from an illustrative case study show a reduction of 50 % in the EC's OPEX with a payback time of 6 years for investments in CDS, renewable sources, and storage.