Penalty Factor-Based Formulation to Support Optimal Energy Scheduling of Distributed Energy Resources in Distribution Systems

This paper presents a penalty factor-based energy scheduling (PFES) formulation for distributed energy resources (DER) optimal energy management in distribution networks. DER limits, as well as network line thermal limits and voltage constraints, are observed as part of the optimization. In the proposed method, penalty factors are utilized to capture the impact of losses in the distribution circuit while providing a method for dispatch optimization. The optimization relies on linearized sensitivities of the AC power flow, namely the active power Power Transfer Distribution Factors (PTDFs) as well as voltage sensitivities to estimate the impact of voltages due to changes in dispatch. The PDTFs are further utilized to estimate system-wide losses. The paper shows how these sensitivity approaches are an effective way to enforce network constraints as part of DER energy scheduling. The method is successfully demonstrated on the IEEE-13 distribution test feeder.