Operation of thermal-electric units in integrated electrical distribution and district heating networks

There is significant interest in exploiting hitherto unused synergies by coupling different energy-carrier networks, such as district heating and electrical distribution networks. This paper addresses the ongoing effort in modeling and simulation of these so-called hybrid thermal-electric networks using tools and semantics that are natural to each of the involved domains, including their controls. Co-simulation based on the Functional Mock-up Interface is used to couple domain-specific simulators to enable a detailed technical assessment of such a multi-energy network. At the application level we show how this approach enables the study of a medium-voltage (MV) electrical distribution network and a district heating network coupled through a combined heat and power (CHP) unit and an electric heater (EH). Different control schemes are implemented to operate these thermal-electric units to integrate the fluctuating renewable energy resources present in the electrical network. This work contributes in demonstrating the use of co-simulation to analyze such integrated thermal-electric energy networks and their respective control domains in detail.