SPEEDAM 2006 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion

Integrated Energy Management in Distributed Systems

W. Schellong
University of Applied Sciences Cologne (Germany) wolfgang.schellong@fh-koeln.de

Abstract-- Energy management describes the process of managing the generation and the consumption of energy, generally to minimise demand and costs. The energy management has to look for efficient solutions for the challenges of the changing conditions of the international energy economy which are caused by the world wide liberalisation of the energy market restricted by limited resources and increasing prices. Before this background distributed energy resources become more and more important. The paper focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to the development of energy information systems combining mathematical and informational methods with energy generation and saving technologies related to the framework of the energy economy. Energy management methods will be demonstrated by the analysis and forecast of the power consumption as well as by the optimisation of the operating schedule in cogeneration systems.

Index Terms--distributed generation, energy management, information system

I. INTRODUCTION The sustainable utilization of energy represents a common need for all countries. Additional to the environmental aspects the rational use of energy becomes more and more important for industrial enterprises as well as for municipalities. Before the background of dramatically increasing prices for oil, gas, and other fossil resources the energy efficiency must be improved in all parts of the national economy. Much of the energy generated today is produced by large-scale, centralized power plants using fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), hydropower or nuclear power, with energy being transmitted and distributed over long distances to consumers. The efficiency of conventional centralized power systems is generally low in comparison with combined heat and power (CHP) technologies (cogeneration) which produce electricity or mechanical power and recover waste heat for process use. CHP systems can deliver energy with efficiencies exceeding 90%, while significantly reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Selecting a CHP technology for a specific application depends on many factors, including the amount of power needed, the duty cycle, space constraints, thermal needs, emission regulations, fuel availability, utility prices and interconnection issues. The architecture of the future electricity systems can be characterized by a combination of conventional

centralized power plants with an increasing number of distributed energy resources, including cogeneration and renewable energy systems. There are several economic benefits of having generation sources located close to the end-user. Distributed generation (DG) reduces energy losses in transmission and distribution lines, provides voltage support, and reduces reactive power losses. Where the distributed generating technology is fuelled by a renewable resource, it offers the additional benefit of displacing fossil-fuel generation or other generation technologies with greater environmental impacts. Distributed energy technologies are playing an increasingly important role in the worlds energy portfolio. They can be used as base load and as peaking power. Professional energy management systems are necessary for the integration of distributed energy units into the classical concept of energy supply. DG system will increasingly include interfaces for connection to local supervisory control and data acquisitions (SCADA), distributed control systems (DCS) and possibly internet systems. Energy data management systems are necessary for the exchange of information on production and consumption schedules, measurements of actual production and consumption and to allow settlement of traded contracts and balancing of power. II. ENERGY MANAGEMENT Energy management describes the process of managing the generation and the consumption of energy, generally to minimize demand and costs. The energy management has to look for efficient solutions for the challenges of the changing conditions of the international energy economy which are caused by the world wide liberalization of the energy market restricted by limited resources and increasing prices. Computer aided energy management combines new solution methods concerning applications from mathematics and informatics for the optimization of the energy generation and consumption process. Information systems are the basis for controlling and decision activities. Because of the large number of relevant information an efficient data management is to be used. Multidisciplinary engineering is necessary for the solution of energy management problems with practical relevance. Therefore analyzing and optimizing methods from mathematics are to be combined with energy data bases and data management to optimize the energy generation process.

1-4244-0194-1/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE

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The main objectives and topics of the energy management can be summarized as: to improve the efficiency of the generation process to built up energy information systems to analyze the energy demand and consumption to develop forecast methods for energy demand to look for an optimal generation mix to organize an efficient energy trading to support the energy controlling

The concept of the "virtual power station" [1] represents a method of organizing decentralized generation and storage in a way that maximizes the value of the generated electricity to the utility. A virtual power station represents a multi-fuel, multi-location and multiowned power station. Virtual power stations using distributed generation units in combination with renewable energy resources and energy storage have the potential to replace conventional power stations step by step until a sustainable energy mix has developed. The concept of virtual power station strongly depends on an applicable control and information system III. METHODS There is an urgent need for the computer aided energy management to build up energy information systems. This energy data basis is necessary for load forecast tools and operating schedules for power plants including cogeneration and renewable energy systems. The liberalized electricity market requires a dramatic increase in exchange of information not only between energy providers and customers but also with the
E n e rg e tic m o d e llin g - te c h n ic a l s y s te m - e c o n o m y (c o n tra c ts )

members of the grid responsible for the distribution and transport. Thus the energy management must provide tools for the energy data workflow and the design of information systems including all relevant information. The process control system of the generation units delivers operating and consumption data representing the main input source of the information system. The centre of the information system (fig. 1) consists of a relational data base containing all relevant energy data. By means of the data base all information exchanges between the modules (technical and economical modeling, forecast, optimization, controlling, report, and visualization) of the system are organized. The energetic modeling module contains the mathematical model for the generation process which describes the relations between the input fuels and the main output resources as power and heat. As energy management systems have a very complex structure the mathematical models should be simple as possible and accurate as necessary. The mathematical description of the economic relations (e.g. delivering contracts) is necessary for the optimization of the generation process. By the forecast module the energy demand is calculated on the basis of a statistical regression model describing the influence of climate factors and operating conditions on the energy consumption. Both the modeling and forecast modules use the same mathematical tools of statistical analysis. The optimization tool calculates the operating schedule of the generation system causing the minimal producing costs. The objectives and constraints of the optimization problem are described in the next chapter.

F o r e c a s tin g - e n e rg y d e m a n d - c o n s u m e r b e h a v io u r

O p tim is a tio n - o p e ra tin g s y s te m - e n e rg y p u rc h a s e

P ro c e s s c o n tro l s ys te m - o p e ra tin g d a ta - c o n s u m p tio n d a ta R e la tio n a l D a ta b a s e M anagem ent

S ys te m in te rfa c e s - e c o n o m ic a l d a ta - c lim a tic d a ta - c o n s u m e r's d a ta

R e p o r tin g - d a ta a n a ly s is - te c h n ic a l re p o rt - e c o n o m ic a l re p o rt

C o n tr o llin g - e n e rg y b a la n c e - c o s ts - o p e ra tin g re s u lts

V is u a lis a tio n

Fig. 1. Energy information system

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IV. RESULTS The following examples show typical applications of computer aided management methods: A. Analysis and forecast of the energy consumption The energy providers as well as the consumers are interested in a better knowledge of the behavior of the time dependent power consumption. The provider could better plan the power generation if detailed information about the customer's behavior is available. On the other side the customer will get better conditions for the delivery contract if he is able to inform his provider about the power demand. Thus both market members will use similar mathematical and informational methods for the energy analysis: analysis of the data flow design and management of energy data bases validation of process data statistical analysis of the data design of energy controlling systems reporting and visualization of energy generation energy audit

with large energy demand and by the consumers behavior. Because of the large number of influence factors and their uncertainty it is impossible to build up an exact physical model for the energy demand. Therefore the energy demand is calculated on the basis of a statistical regression model describing the influence of climate factors and operating conditions on the energy consumption. The linear multivariate regression model (1) describes the energy demand y (heat or power) dependent on influence factors x1, x2, , xn (climate or seasonal factors)

y = a0 + a1 x1 + a 2 x 2 + ... + a n x n

(1)

Thus the heat demand Qth of a district heating system can be simply described by a linear single regression model:

Qth = a 0 + a1t out

where tout represents temperature. the daily average

(2) outside

The energy consumption of the delivery district of a power plant depends on many different influence factors (fig. 2.). The heat demand of a district heating system depends strongly on the outside temperature but also on additional climate factors as wind, global radiation and humidity. On the other side seasonal factors influence the energy consumption. Usually the power and heat demand is higher on working days than at the weekend. Furthermore vacation and holidays have a significant impact on the energy consumption. Last but not least the heat and power demand in the delivery district is influenced by the operational parameters of enterprises

The model (2) can be extended to a multivariate model by additional climate factors as wind, solar radiation and others. The analysis of the relationships between energy consumption and climate factors include the following activities: energy balancing (distribution of demand) analysis of the main influence factors (fig. 2.) mathematical modeling by regression analysis analysis and modeling of typical demand profiles The forecast of the energy demand can also be modeled by neural networks.

C lim a t e - te m p e ra tu r e - s o la r r a d ia tio n - ra in - w in d v e lo c ity

C a le n d a r d a y o f th e w e e k s a is o n v a c a tio n h o lid a y

E n e r g y c o n s u m p t io n - pow er - heat - fu e ls O p e ra tio n a l p a ra m e te r - p r o d u c tio n - c o n s u m e r's b e h a v io u r

Fig. 2. Relationship model of the energy forecast

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B. Optimization of the power generation The power generation system of the provider generally consists of several power plants including distributed units as cogeneration systems, wind turbines, and others. The provider is faced with the task to find the optimal combination of the different generation units to satisfy the power demand of the customers (fig. 3.). Because of the unbundled structure of the generation, distribution and selling of electricity a lot of technical relations and economical conditions are to be modeled. The objectives of the optimization of the power generation are: minimization of the fuel costs minimization of the operating costs minimization of the distribution costs reduction of CO2 emissions optimization of the power trading

There are a lot of boundary restrictions referring the capacity and the operating conditions of the generation units. The operating schedule depends on the availability of the single generation units. The system is influenced by constraints of the district heating network as well as of the electrical grid. The generation system has to fulfill legal constraints referring emissions. The optimization system is influenced by the delivery contracts and actual conditions of the energy trading at the energy stock exchange. Thus the related mathematical optimization model has a very complex structure. Because of the properties of the optimization variables and the type of the constraints it can be defined as a mixed integer linear optimization problem. It can be solved only by means of computeraided numerical methods on the basis of a multidisciplinary modeling process [2]. The energy management supports the power generation by the following activities: mathematical modeling of the generation process modeling of the economic constraints forecast calculation (see A.) portfolio management software engineering

The most important restrictions and boundary conditions of the optimization problem are the following: The generation system must satisfy the power and heat demand of the delivery district. The power generation in a cogeneration system depends on the heat generation. The mathematical relations can be described in a similar way as described in A. As a first modeling step linear regression models can be used to describe the dependence of heat and power generation.

Fig. 3. Operating schedule of the generation units

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V. CONCLUSIONS The paper presents typical working fields of the energy management. Because of the complex structure of the problems in the most cases computer aided methods are needed. Information systems are the basis for controlling and decision activities. Because of the large number of relevant information an efficient data management is to be used. Multidisciplinary engineering is necessary for the solution of energy management problems with practical relevance. The mathematical modeling by linear regression analysis provides a wide range of useful applications within the context of the optimization of the energy generation and consumption. The engineering education in the field of the energy management must provide a platform for the interchange of ideas, methods, and technologies related to sustainable utilisation of energy. The qualified training of students as future decision-makers will guarantee the dissemination of energy management methods in the regional practice. The scientific topics of the educational program have to be strongly related to practical demands. The educational program must fit to the multidisciplinary character of the objectives and methods of the energy management. Thus

it is very important that the students learn not only specific technologies of energy engineering but also applicable basic methods for energy analysis and modelling. Energy management problems will usually solved in complex projects by a team work where energy engineers work together with specialists of other technical, economical, and informational disciplines. Therefore the students have to learn the basic ideas and methods of project management including project planning, controlling, and supervising. An overview about the experiences which are collected at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne in the education of future energy managers can be found at [3] and [4]. REFERENCES
[1] Maegaard, P.: Renewable Energies, Proc. of CIER 2005 Conference, Varadero (Cuba), May 2005 [2] Schellong, W.; Maas, R.: Energiemanagement imInternet. VDI-Berichte1647, 2001 [3] Schellong, W.: Teaching Energy Management - a Multidisciplinary Approach, Proc. of University 2006 Conference, Havana (Cuba), February 2006 [4] www.automatisierungstechnik-koeln.de/dv/projekte

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