Potential of a self-sufficient control for flexible loads in low voltage grids

Due to the expansion of volatile renewable generation and the growth in the field of electric vehicles, German distribution system operators are facing new challenges. Adequate infrastructure is needed mitigating the negative impact on the power system stability. Along with these new grid actuators, consumption related capacity-bottlenecks increase. An approach is to affect the consumption behaviour. In order to replace rigid technologies such as time switches, a grid-serving load management concept is being pursued. The approach presented in this paper is based on a decentralized, self-sufficient control of flexible loads depending on the local grid status. The technological, regulatory and contractual conditions of the flexible loads in the low voltage grid, such as electric vehicles and others, are taken into account. An algorithm for decentralized control based on locally collected measurement data was developed and implemented. This approach is already being tested in a real laboratory on about hundred households in both rural and urban regions. First data from the real laboratory show a high potential of shifting and optimizing the energy consumption of flexible loads over time.