Aggregation and Control of Flexible Consumers: A Real Life Demonstration

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we present an architecture for aggregation and control of a portfolio of flexible consumers. The architecture makes it possible to control the aggregated consumption of the portfolio to follow a power reference while honoring local consumer constraints. Hereby, an aggregator is able to utilize a portfolio of consumers as a virtual power plant to deliver services in the electricity markets. The architecture is implemented and demonstrated in a field test on a portfolio consisting of 54 heat pumps each located in an inhabited household. In this demonstration, a power reference varying between 15 kW and 35 kW is followed over a 7 day period. The field test showed satisfactory performance in terms of following the power reference and assuring comfort for the inhabitants. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first real life demonstration where a power reference is followed based on the aggregated consumption of a larger number of devices – and consequently a significant step towards the smart grid vision.