Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Ensuring Grid-Safe Forwarding of Distributed Flexibility in Sequential DSO-TSO Markets

Wicak Ananduta, Anibal Sanjab, Luciana Marques

TL;DR

The paper tackles grid-safe forwarding of distributed flexibility in sequential TSO-DSO markets, where DSOs procure local flexibility (Layer 1) before the TSO procures remaining and own flexibility (Layer 2). It introduces three mathematically formulated approaches—the three-layer corrective market, bid prequalification, and bid aggregation with discretized RSFs—to guarantee grid-safety when Layer-2 decisions ignore distribution-grid constraints. The authors prove grid-safety guarantees and derive efficiency bounds for each method, complemented by a numerical case study using interconnected IEEE/Matpower networks that demonstrates performance trade-offs between grid-safety, efficiency, and computational effort. The work highlights that bid aggregation can achieve grid-safe and near-optimal outcomes under fine discretization but incurs higher computational complexity, while the other two methods offer practicality and robustness under specific network and pricing assumptions. Overall, the findings provide rigorous guidance for implementing multi-layer flexibility markets in Europe and similar settings, balancing market efficiency, grid safety, and computational feasibility.

Abstract

This paper investigates sequential flexibility markets consisting of a first market layer for distribution system operators (DSOs) to procure local flexibility to resolve their own needs (e.g., congestion management) followed by a second layer, in which the transmission system operator (TSO) procures remaining flexibility forwarded from the distribution system layer as well as flexibility from its own system for providing system services. As the TSO does not necessarily have full knowledge of the distribution grid constraints, this bid forwarding can cause an infeasibility problem for distribution systems, i.e., cleared distribution-level bids in the TSO layer might not satisfy local network constraints. To address this challenge, we introduce and examine three methods aiming to enable the grid-safe use of distribution-located resources in markets for system services, namely: a corrective three-layer market scheme, a bid prequalification/filtering method, and a bid aggregation method. Technically, we provide conditions under which these methods can produce a grid-safe use of distributed flexibility. We also characterize the efficiency of the market outcome under these methods. Finally, we carry out a representative case study to evaluate the performances of the three methods, focusing on economic efficiency, grid-safety, and computational load.

Ensuring Grid-Safe Forwarding of Distributed Flexibility in Sequential DSO-TSO Markets

TL;DR

The paper tackles grid-safe forwarding of distributed flexibility in sequential TSO-DSO markets, where DSOs procure local flexibility (Layer 1) before the TSO procures remaining and own flexibility (Layer 2). It introduces three mathematically formulated approaches—the three-layer corrective market, bid prequalification, and bid aggregation with discretized RSFs—to guarantee grid-safety when Layer-2 decisions ignore distribution-grid constraints. The authors prove grid-safety guarantees and derive efficiency bounds for each method, complemented by a numerical case study using interconnected IEEE/Matpower networks that demonstrates performance trade-offs between grid-safety, efficiency, and computational effort. The work highlights that bid aggregation can achieve grid-safe and near-optimal outcomes under fine discretization but incurs higher computational complexity, while the other two methods offer practicality and robustness under specific network and pricing assumptions. Overall, the findings provide rigorous guidance for implementing multi-layer flexibility markets in Europe and similar settings, balancing market efficiency, grid safety, and computational feasibility.

Abstract

This paper investigates sequential flexibility markets consisting of a first market layer for distribution system operators (DSOs) to procure local flexibility to resolve their own needs (e.g., congestion management) followed by a second layer, in which the transmission system operator (TSO) procures remaining flexibility forwarded from the distribution system layer as well as flexibility from its own system for providing system services. As the TSO does not necessarily have full knowledge of the distribution grid constraints, this bid forwarding can cause an infeasibility problem for distribution systems, i.e., cleared distribution-level bids in the TSO layer might not satisfy local network constraints. To address this challenge, we introduce and examine three methods aiming to enable the grid-safe use of distribution-located resources in markets for system services, namely: a corrective three-layer market scheme, a bid prequalification/filtering method, and a bid aggregation method. Technically, we provide conditions under which these methods can produce a grid-safe use of distributed flexibility. We also characterize the efficiency of the market outcome under these methods. Finally, we carry out a representative case study to evaluate the performances of the three methods, focusing on economic efficiency, grid-safety, and computational load.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 9 theorems, 18 equations, 3 figures, 2 tables, 2 algorithms)

This paper contains 23 sections, 9 theorems, 18 equations, 3 figures, 2 tables, 2 algorithms.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Sequential Flexibility Markets
  3. Market Model
  4. Relationship with other DSO-TSO market models
  5. Grid Safety Considerations
  6. Corrective Method: A Three-layer Scheme
  7. Model Formulation
  8. Method Analysis
  9. Bid Prequalification Method
  10. Model Formulation
  11. Method Analysis
  12. Bid Aggregation Method
  13. Model Formulation
  14. Method Analysis
  15. Numerical Simulations
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Key Result

Proposition 1

Let $(\bm x_0^{\mathrm i}$, $(\bm x_m^{\mathrm i}, z_m^{\mathrm i})_{m \in \mathcal{N}^{\mathrm D}})$ be a solution to the idealized sequential market model (Definition def:ideal_sequential) and $(\bm x_0^{\mathrm f}$, $(\bm x_m^{\mathrm f}, z_m^{\mathrm f})_{m \in \mathcal{N}^{\mathrm D}})$ be a so

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: The network topology for the simulation study.
  • Figure 2: The inefficiency of the bid aggregation method (top) and the average computational time (bottom) with varying RSF step size $\bar{\delta}$.
  • Figure 3: The inefficiency of the bid aggregation method with dual-price-based RSFs papavasiliou2020hierarchicalmezghani2021coordination (solid lines) compared with the proposed primal-cost-based RSFs (dashed lines). Each line represents a case with the markers and colors following the top plot of Fig. \ref{['fig:eff_rsf']}.

Theorems & Definitions (19)

  • Definition 1
  • Definition 2
  • Definition 3
  • Definition 4
  • Proposition 1
  • Definition 5: Grid-safe bids
  • Proposition 2
  • Remark 1
  • Proposition 3
  • Remark 2
  • ...and 9 more