Rewarding cooperative virtual power plant formation using scoring rules
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Robu, V
Chalkiadakis, G
Kota, R
Rogers, A
Jennings, NR
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are fast emerging as a viable means of integrating small and distributed energy resources (DERs), like wind and solar, into the electricity supply network (Grid). VPPs are formed via the aggregation of a large number of DERs, so that they exhibit the characteristics of a traditional generator in terms of predictability and robustness. In this work, we promote the formation of such “cooperative” VPPs (CVPPs) using techniques from the field of distributed Artificial Intelligence and game theory. In particular, we design a payment mechanism that encourages DERs to join CVPPs with increased size and visibility to the network operator. Our method is based on strictly proper scoring rules and incentivises the provision of accurate predictions of expected electricity generation from member DERs, which aids in the planning of the supply schedule at the Grid. We empirically evaluate our approach using the real-world setting of 16 commercial wind farms in the UK, and we show that it incentivises real DERs to form CVPPs, and outperforms the current state of the art payment mechanism developed for this problem.
Date Issued
2016-10-26
Date Acceptance
2016-10-19
Citation
Energy, 2016, 117, pp.19-28
ISSN
0360-5442
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
19
End Page
28
Journal / Book Title
Energy
Volume
117
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Energy
0913 Mechanical Engineering
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
Publication Status
Published