Characterization of Aggregated Demand-side Flexibility of Small Consumers

This paper presents a methodology for the characterization of demand-side flexibility of a group of small consumers. The day-ahead time-differentiated price tariffs are considered as the base energy cost to be sent to the consumers by the energy supplier with whom they have a contract. The aggregator, as a third-party agent responsible for the aggregation of demand-side flexibility, defines an hourly reward to motivate consumers to participate in the provision of flexibility by reshaping their consumption. A mixed integer linear programming model is developed including the physically based behavior of demand-side resources consisting of shiftable loads, interruptible loads, thermostatically controlled loads, local generation, battery storage systems and electric vehicles. Each consumer is equipped with a home energy management system that performs the management of end-use loads according to consumer's preferences and restrictions, energy prices and any rewards that may exist. In this study, the potential of consumers to provide flexibility and their response to different reward signals are investigated considering different characteristics of the available energy resources, including load profiles and comfort preferences. Different reward values are defined to assess their impact on the amount of flexibility at the consumer and aggregator levels. Numerical results show the potential of different types of consumers to participate in demand response programs differ as their responsiveness to the rewards is not identical.