Application US20190020220 Energy Financial Settlements

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United States of America

Application US20190020220

Published 2019-01-17

Hierarchal Framework For Integrating Distributed Energy Resources Into Distribution Systems

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for providing a hierarchical framework for integrating distributed energy resources into power distribution systems. In one example of the disclosed technology, a method implemented with an aggregation server includes receiving a respective utility function associated with each of at least two of a plurality of distributed energy resources representing an amount of energy produced or consumed by the respective associated distributed energy resource as a function of energy price, producing an aggregated utility function associated with the plurality of distributed energy resources based on the received utility functions, transmitting the produced aggregated utility function to a coordinator, receiving a clearing value from the coordinator, and transmitting the received clearing value to each of the plurality of distributed energy resources.

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4 Independent Claims

1. A method comprising: receiving a respective utility function associated with each of at least two of a plurality of distributed energy resources, wherein the respective received utility function represents an amount of energy produced or consumed by the respective associated distributed energy resource as a function of energy price; producing an aggregated utility function associated with the plurality of distributed energy resources based on the received utility functions; transmitting the produced aggregated utility function to a coordinator; receiving a clearing value from the coordinator; and transmitting the received clearing value to each of the plurality of distributed energy resources.
8. A system comprising: a plurality of distributed energy resources being configured to transmit a utility function to at least one aggregation server, the utility function relating energy produced or consumed to energy price; the at least one aggregation server being configured to aggregate utility functions received from the distributed resources by: determining a first aggregated utility function based on the transmitted utility function, the first aggregated utility function relating energy produced or consumed by all of the associated distributed energy resources to price, and transmitting the first aggregated utility function to a coordination server; and the coordination server being configured to determine a second aggregated utility function based on each of the received first aggregated utility functions.
18. Computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, the instructions comprising: instructions that cause the computer to generate a utility function representing an amount of energy produced or consumed by an energy resource as a function of energy price, the energy resource being coupled to the computer; instructions that cause the computer to initiate transmission of the utility function to an aggregation server; and instructions that cause the computer to select an amount of energy produced or consumed by the energy resource based on a clearing value received from the aggregation server in response to transmission of the utility function.
21. A system comprising: a plurality of distributed energy resources being configured to transmit a bid to at least one aggregation server, the bid representing an amount of energy to be consumed by the resource during a time period and a bid price at which the energy will be consumed; the at least one aggregation server being configured to: determine a demand curve based on the bids received at the aggregation server for the plurality of distributed energy resources by summing the received bids that have a bid price less than a market cap price for; and transmit the determined demand curve to a coordination server; and the coordination server being configured to determine a clearing value based at least in part on the demand curve.