Electric vehicles, energy storage and other load-side regulation resources have great potential to participate in peak regulation

China Energy Storage Network News: In the dispatching room of the North China Electric Power Control Center, power dispatchers are monitoring the power grid to ensure the smooth development of the peak-shaving market and the stable operation of the power grid.

Dispatching is a key link to ensure the safe operation of the power grid and achieve the optimal allocation of power resources. State Grid Corporation of China has been innovating and exploring, and constantly optimizing dispatching methods and models. The multi-coordinated dispatching and control system of source, grid, load and storage explored and constructed by the North China Branch of State Grid is the first in China to incorporate resources such as electric vehicles and energy storage into the grid optimization dispatching and real-time closed-loop control, and participate in the peak load auxiliary service market as an independent entity, realizing the transformation of the dispatching model to "synergistic interaction of source, grid, load and storage", promoting the efficient and optimal allocation of grid resources, promoting the consumption of new energy, and helping to build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system.

In the late night of March 18, the wind power output of the North China Power Grid reached 40.13 million kilowatts, a record high. At that time, the load of the entire grid was still running at a low level, only 151 million kilowatts, and the grid was under great pressure to absorb new energy. At this time, the North China Power Peak Loading Ancillary Service Market released the market clearing results in real time.

In the dispatching hall of the North China Electric Power Control Center, the source-grid-load-storage multi-coordinated dispatching control system optimizes the charging power and time of load-side resources such as distributed energy storage, electric vehicles, and electric heating in real time, and automatically sends the command to increase the charging power through the automatic generation control system (AGC) to the cloud platforms of State Grid Electric Vehicle Service Co., Ltd., State Grid Jibei Integrated Energy Service Co., Ltd., and Teladian New Energy Co., Ltd. to execute the market clearing results. The platform automatically receives and sends the decomposed instructions to each market entity of the aggregation agent. Orderly charging piles, battery swap stations, buses waiting to be charged at bus stations, distributed energy storage and electric heating equipment all increase the charging power or adjust the power to the maximum, helping to reduce peaks and fill valleys, and effectively promote the consumption of new energy.

Electric vehicles, energy storage and other load-side regulation resources have great potential to participate in peak regulation

In recent years, my country's energy production and consumption revolution has been continuously deepened, and a large number of renewable energy power generation has been connected to the power grid. State Grid Corporation of China has been taking multiple measures to promote the large-scale optimization of clean energy allocation and help build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. In the company's operating area, the North China Power Grid belongs to the "Three Hua" region with developed economy and large electricity demand. It has strong economic development resilience and fast growth in electricity demand. At the same time, it belongs to the "Three North" region with a high proportion of new energy. Wind and solar resources are concentrated, and wind power and photovoltaic power generation maintain rapid growth.

"At present, the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation in the North China Power Grid is 107 million kilowatts, accounting for 30% of the total installed capacity, and the average annual growth rate during the 13th Five-Year Plan period reached 20.69%. The maximum output of wind power is 40.13 million kilowatts, and the maximum output of photovoltaic (including distributed photovoltaic) is 28.66 million kilowatts. The double growth of new energy installed capacity and output has greatly increased the pressure on the grid to absorb. In order to achieve the goal of non-fossil energy accounting for more than 50%, new energy installed capacity will continue to develop rapidly. The peak load regulation and new energy absorption situation of the North China Power Grid will be more severe during the peak winter period in the future." Jiang Changming, director of the North China Electric Power Control Center, introduced.

Faced with the pressure of absorbing new energy, the North China Electric Power Control Center has carried out innovations in concepts, management, and technology. On the basis of the successful operation of the North China Electric Power Peak-Shaving Auxiliary Service Market, it has introduced resources such as electric vehicles and energy storage to participate in the peak-shaving market, stimulated the vitality of market entities on the load side, improved the efficiency of grid resource allocation, and achieved large-scale optimization of clean energy allocation.

The North China Electric Power Control Center has summarized four obvious characteristics of load-side regulation resources, including electric vehicles and energy storage, which are flexible in electricity consumption time, guideable electricity consumption behavior, predictable electricity consumption patterns, and intelligent electricity consumption methods. It is believed that there is a lot of room for load-side resources to participate in the optimization and control of the power grid. The Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan power grid has abundant load-side regulation resources. According to statistics, there are currently about 400,000 electric vehicles in Beijing, Tianjin, and northern Hebei, with energy storage resources exceeding 200,000 kilowatts; there are about 80 million air conditioners, and 1.63 million electric heating users. If the elastic electricity consumption performance of these load-side resources can be brought into play, the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan power grid is expected to increase the peak-shaving power by a maximum of about 4 million kilowatts.

However, as far as individually controllable and adjustable load-side resources are concerned, their capacity is mostly from a few hundred to tens of thousands of kilowatts, and they are located in many places and have complex operating entities. How to sense, gather, guide and accurately dispatch these load-side regulation resources is a major problem that needs to be solved through technical paths and business model innovations.

From "source follows load" to "synergistic interaction between source, grid, load and storage"

The traditional connection between the dispatching end and the load end of the power grid faces many problems, such as long network chains, a large number of platforms, large barriers to information exchange, and high Internet security risks. To solve the domestic and even international problem of continuous control of load clusters by dispatching, it is necessary to give full play to Internet thinking, apply Internet technology, and continuously promote the development of the power grid in the direction of digitalization and intelligence.

In solving this problem, load resource aggregators can play an active role. Resource aggregators such as State Grid Electric Vehicle Company, Jibei Integrated Energy Service Company, and Teladian Company have a large number of load-side resources such as electric vehicle charging piles, distributed energy storage, and controllable loads, and have built their own aggregator platforms, which can aggregate scattered controllable loads into a relatively large-scale "aggregate".

After more than half a year of exploration and practice, the State Grid North China Branch took the lead in building a multi-coordinated dispatching and control platform for source, grid, load and storage in China, formulated specifications for load-side resource access and information upload, realized safe and efficient interconnection between the grid side and the "aggregator", and realized data collection, monitoring, analysis and display of load-side regulation resources. The aggregator platform receives control instructions issued by the dispatching agency and decomposes them to the aggregated adjustable load resource terminals to achieve closed-loop control.

"Load resource aggregators can guide bus companies, energy storage power station operators, battery swap stations, and electric heat storage load users. They can use marketing methods such as instant charging discounts and service fee discounts to guide some of the resources they aggregate, gradually change users' original charging times and habits according to grid demand, increase charging power when grid peak regulation is difficult, and expand the space for new energy consumption." said Zhang Zhe, secretary of the Party General Branch of the North China Electric Power Control Center.

After careful design, development, testing and joint deployment, the State Grid North China Branch has achieved interconnected perception and control between the smart grid dispatching technical support system D5000 and the State Grid Electric Vehicle Company's smart energy platform, Teladian platform, and Jibei Virtual Power Plant (VPP) management and control platform, and continuously adjusted user loads through AGC instructions to achieve coordinated interaction of "source, grid, load and storage".

For resource aggregators, joint efforts with power grid companies to tackle key problems are a win-win situation. "The controllable charging load of electric vehicles participates in the North China peak-shaving market, attracting market players to actively respond to the peak-shaving needs of the power grid, and expanding a new model for the development of charging business." Wang Wen, deputy general manager of State Grid Electric Vehicle Company, said, "In order to receive and execute the control instructions issued by the dispatching agency, electric vehicle charging piles must achieve controllable charging, orderly charging, and have two-way information exchange functions. This also drives us to accelerate the innovation of charging pile technology and the construction of controllable charging facilities."