Congestion Management in Energy Communities Using a Two-Step Demand Response Methodology

Energy communities are of the utmost importance for the promotion of active participation in local energy markets under the current agenda of the European Union. Thus, it is crucial that all operations requiring energy transactions keep the stability of electrical grids. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a methodology capable of preventing and solving congestion line-by-line in an electrical network. The methodology consists of a power flow analysis model and two demand response programs. By using the two demand response methods independently or in combination, the methodology gains robustness and can handle complex scenarios that need a significant amount of flexibility. The robustness of the method is demonstrated in the IEEE Low Voltage European test feeder, where multiple periods needed to apply both demand response programs to solve the congestion, maintaining the operational state of the network.