A stochastic dual dynamic programming approach for optimal operation of DER aggregators

The operation of aggregators of distributed energy resources (DER) is a highly complex task that is affected by numerous factors of uncertainty such as renewables injections, load levels and market conditions. However, traditional stochastic programming approaches neglect information around temporal dependency of the uncertain variables due to computational tractability limitations. This paper proposes a novel stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) approach for the optimal operation of a DER aggregator. The traditional SDDP framework is extended to capture temporal dependency of the uncertain wind power output, through the integration of an n-order autoregressive (AR) model. This method is demonstrated to achieve a better trade-off between solution efficiency and computational time requirements compared to traditional stochastic programming approaches based on the use of scenario trees.