Enhancing Virtual Power Plant Dynamics with Renewable Energy and Storage for Improved Distributed Generation

Distribution networks are seeing an influx of distributed generation (DG) units, particularly RES and ESS, as a result of cost savings and the depletion of fossil fuels. When smaller RESs are directly linked to the power grid and participate in the energy market, handling the massive amounts of data generated by such a small number of DGs presents a number of challenges. One solution to these issues is the virtual power plant (VPP), which is essentially a collection of distributed generation units (DGs) linked together by networks and equipped with their own localized energy management platform. These VPPs can handle both fixed and variable loads. So far, all energy management in VPPs have been conducted without renewable energy sources (RES), such as wind turbines, fuel cells, photovoltaics, geothermal, and ESSs. To change that, this publication will apply MATLAB tools to assess three scenarios that include RES and ESSs in electrical energy management for a VPP. By comparing the suggested energy management approach with conventional VPP practices, the end scenario will demonstrate the method's advantages when applied to RES.