Co-simulation and control of power-to-heat units in coupled electrical and thermal distribution networks

There is significant interest in exploiting the 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 the physical and cyber-physical domains of these so-called hybrid thermal-electric networks. The focus thereby is to use tools and semantics that are natural to each of the involved domains. A hierarchical control approach for power-to-heat appliances, taking into account the different involved actors in such a multi-energy network, is presented. At the application level we show how this approach enables the control of electrically heated storage tanks to couple an electrical distribution network with a district heating network. Co-simulation based on the Functional Mock-up Interface is used as it provides a flexible industry-grade standard for coupling simulators and tools and facilitates implementation of advanced control designs. This work contributes in establishing a framework to derive and test complex control strategies for power-to-heat appliances used to couple the different domains and the inherent time scales of hybrid thermal-electrical networks.