A Multiobjective Approach to the Management of Opt-In Distributed Energy Resources

This paper considers the problem of coordinating Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in a radial distribution work below a substation, in order to meet an injection schedule at the substation. Loads, dispatchable resources, nondispatchable resources, and energy storage are modeled in the problem. Uncertainty in load and nondispatchable generation is considered using scenarios. The focus is on situations where there are many identical agents willing to participate, but only a subset of them can be scheduled, due to network congestion. A multiobjective approach is proposed, where the first objective is chosen to promote the equity of network access among agents over time, and the second objective is concerned with the control of the overall deviation from the injection schedule. A fundamental tradeoff is to determine the extent to which generation is provided from non-dispatchable resources, and the level of risk of deviation from the schedule that can be tolerated. Simulations are used to illustrate the tradeoff between the objectives, and assess the level of nondispatchable resources that can be integrated.