Studying the impacts of incorporating energy storage devices into an aggregated probabilistic model of a virtual power plant

This paper focusses on studying the changes brought about in the aggregated probabilistic representation of a distribution network containing distributed generation and local loads after the incorporation of Energy Storage Devices (ESD) into the said network. A stochastic model of the ESD is first constructed using a suitable charging/discharging strategy, and it is then combined with information about hourly generation and load for developing the overall profile of the different distribution side components, aggregated at the transmission bus level, in the form of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). Several indices are introduced for comparing the average annual energy contributions of the VPP's constituent renewable and conventional source based generators in charging the ESDs. The VPP is modeled using a modified Roy Billinton Test System Bus 5 distribution network, and the impacts of changes in ESD related parameters like rated capacity and charging time on the introduced indices are investigated.