Optimizing flexibility exploitation from distribution grids

CyberNoc’s new architecture maximizes exploitation of flexible assets

CyberGrid implements a new microservice architecture to their proprietary ICT solution CyberNoc to increase VPP scalability.

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are evolving with energy market trends which steadily indicate greater reliance upon distributed energy resources (DERs). To match the needs of aggregators focusing on large units, VPPs are currently dealing with the integration of maximum some hundreds of flexibilities.

Nonetheless, the penetration of renewable resources in the energy market is expected to drastically modify the requirements for distribution grid operation as well as for the exploitation of flexibilities. Distribution system operators (DSOs) will introduce temporal limitations on market activities in stressed grid sections, dynamically adapting to the current and forecasted load on the network elements. In order to accommodate the increased use of renewable energies, the scalability of VPP solutions needs to be further increased by a magnitude of as much as 10 to 100.

InteGrid, a three-and-a-half-year-long EU funded project of which CyberGrid is a partner, aims to demonstrate scalable and replicable solutions in an integrated environment to enable DSOs to plan and operate the network with a huge share of distributed renewable resources (DRES) in a stable, secure and economic way, using flexibility inherently offered by specific technologies and interaction with different stakeholders. A new concept for a traffic light system to limit the allowed use of flexibilities by the DSO has been developed and will be tested in the upcoming months. In case of a risk of grid instability, the DSO will additionally be able to order flexibilities from a dedicated technical VPP. A new module to support the traffic light was added to CyberGrid's VPP solution CyberNoc, which will be applied for real-life testing of the new tools.

Having taken into consideration the ever-changing needs of the power supply industry, CyberGrid proceeded within the frame of InteGrid to implement a completely new architecture, which allows the VPP to run as a set of microservices, thereby facilitating increased scalability of the VPP. Thousands of energy assets can thus be managed by one implementation of the VPP. Additional benefits of the microservice technology are simplified expansion due to the modular structure and improved application stability.

“The microservice architecture ensures a minimised use of hardware resources compared to standard software architectures. In addition, the modular design facilitates fast adaption to changing business requirements”, Andraž Andolšek, CyberGrid’s Senior Development Expert, IT and Data Specialist explains.

CyberNoc being used for InteGrid

In the framework of InteGrid, CyberNoc will be utilised in two demonstrators in Slovenia, one for a technical VPP, which will provide flexibility for grid operation to support the local DSO Elektro Ljubljana. The other demo in Slovenia realises a commercial VPP represented by a third party, which will provide flexibility for markets taking into account the traffic light system operated by Elektro Ljubljana. A similar process will take place in Portugal, but with the additional benefit of merging the two Portuguese VPPs into one instance. This combined use of CyberNoc will allow for the simultaneous provision of flexibility to ancillary service markets and to grid operators, thereby reducing costs for infrastructure and operation.