Operating Envelopes for Prosumers in LV Networks: A Weighted Proportional Fairness Approach
Kyriacos Petrou, Michael Z. Liu, Andreas T. Procopiou, Luis F. Ochoa, John Theunissen, Justin Harding
Abstract
Residential consumers with distributed energy resources such as solar PV and batteries, also known as prosumers, are becoming increasingly common. This, in turn, has created the opportunity to provide system-level services through aggregators. However, as the number of residential prosumers providing services increases, low voltage (LV) network constraints must be considered. This paper explores the use of day-ahead, time-varying operating envelopes (limits) calculated for each prosumer with an Optimal Power Flow (OPF) that incorporates the constraints of three-phase LV networks. The concept of weighted proportional fairness is adopted and implemented through the maximization of a logarithmic objective function. Once defined, these envelopes are used by aggregators to manage their portfolios accordingly. Using real Australian LV networks, consumer and pricing data, it is shown that the proposed day-ahead operating envelopes not only ensure network integrity but also allow aggregators to manage their portfolios more effectively when compared with unfair objective functions.