A Water-Loop Heat Pump Load Aggregation Method for the Microgrid Optimal Dispatch Problem

The central air conditioning system (CACS) is considered as an important demand response (DR) resource for its flexible means of control and high output power. In order to smooth power fluctuations of tie-line in microgrid, water-loop heat pump (WLHP) load, a typical CACS is studied as a controllable resource for the first time in this paper. A WLHP aggregation model based on the priority list method is first established, which contains two full working modes and can consider customers’ comfort requirement. Then the power consumption range for WLHP is determined and regarded as a constraint for the optimal dispatch model. A microgrid test system including wind and solar generation, WLHP load and a battery storage is used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model.