Optimization of a Renewable Energy Source-Based Virtual Power Plant for Electrical Energy Management in an Unbalanced Distribution Network

The virtual power plant (VPP) is a developing concept in the modern engineering field. This paper presents a local search optimization (LSO) algorithm-based virtual power plant for energy management in a distribution network. The proposed LSO algorithm is used for the optimal selection and location of the distributed energy resources (DER), the optimal regulation of load, and the optimal usage of energy storage systems in a VPP. DERs are a renewable energy sources (RES) that consist of solar PV and a wind energy source. DERs face the challenge of energy losses, voltage variations, and revenue losses in the utilization network. These problems are solved by the proposed VPP concept by reducing the acquiring of energy from the power sector. An LSO-based virtual power plant is modeled in MATLB PSCAD and verified using the IEEE-9 bus system. The results show that 81% of the purchased energy from the utility grid was reduced by the optimal placement of the DER and 86% of acquired energy from utility grid was reduced by the optimal location of the DER and optimal load control in the VPP.