Demand Response with Micro-CHP Systems
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Technical report Demand response with micro-CHP systems M. Houwing, R.R. Negenborn, B. De Schutter If you want to cite this report, please use the following reference instead: M. Houwing, R.R. Negenborn, B. De Schutter. Demand response with micro-CHP systems. Proceedings of the IEEE , vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 200-213, January 2011. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands 1 Demand Response with Micro-CHP Systems Michiel Houwing, Rudy R. Negenborn, and Bart De Schutter Member, IEEE Abstract—With the increasing application of distributed energy B. Micro combined heat and power systems as novel heating resources and novel information technologies in the electricity technology infrastructure, innovative possibilities to incorporate the demand side more actively in power system operation are enabled. A The domestic sector is responsible for a large share of promising, controllable, residential distributed generation tech- a country’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. In nology is a micro combined heat and power system (micro-CHP). the Netherlands, for example, in 2007 the domestic sector Micro-CHP is an energy efficient technology that simultaneously represented a share of 24 % in the total electricity consumption provides heat and electricity to households. In this paper we investigate to what extent domestic energy costs could be reduced and 20 % in the gas consumption [8], [9]. Further, Dutch with intelligent, price-based control concepts (demand response). households are responsible for about 18 % of the total CO2 Hereby, first the performance of a standard, so-called heat-led emissions (excluding transport) in the Netherlands [8], [9]. micro-CHP system is analyzed. Then, a model predictive control One of the options for households to reduce electricity strategy aimed at demand response is proposed for more intelli- gent control of micro-CHP systems. Simulation studies illustrate consumption from the grid is the installation of DG. Be- the added value of the proposed intelligent control approach sides small wind turbines and photovoltaic systems, specific over the standard approach in terms of reduced variable energy potential for applying DG at the residential level lies in costs. Demand response with micro-CHP lowers variable costs utilizing electricity and heat from so-called micro combined for households by about 1–14 %. The cost reductions are highest heat and power systems (micro-CHP), also known as micro with the most strongly fluctuating real-time pricing scheme. cogeneration systems. Based on [10] a micro-CHP system is Index Terms—micro combined heat and power systems, de- defined as follows: mand response, model predictive control. Micro-CHP: energy conversion unit with an electric capacity below 15 kW that simultaneously generates heat and power. I. INTRODUCTION Micro-CHP systems can be relatively small and are expected to be of the same size as current heating systems. Compared to A. Distributed generation current heating systems micro-CHP is a step forward in terms of energy efficiency [10]. By generating electricity locally OWER generation is responsible for a large share of the and utilizing the co-produced heat, the efficiency of domestic P anthropogenic CO2 emissions [1]. Many new sustainable energy use is substantially improved. In Figure 1 the basic technologies for electricity provision are therefore currently principle of micro-CHP is shown. Assuming that a household under development [2]. Many of these technologies are de- needs 20 units of electrical energy and 80 units of heat, and signed for application at the distribution level of the electricity assuming a boiler efficiency of 100 % (based on the lower infrastructure. Such small-scale electricity generation systems heating value of the primary fuel) and an efficiency of large are referred to as distributed generation (DG). Examples of power generation of 45 %, a household consumes 124 units DG technologies are photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and of primary energy in the case of separate heat and power combined heat and power plants (CHP). The use of DG has generation. With a micro-CHP system of 20 % electric and several advantages. When DG systems use renewable primary 80 % thermal efficiency, 100 units of primary energy are energy as input, they can provide significant environmental required, leading to primary energy savings of around 20 %. benefits. Due to reduced losses from electricity transport and During the last years there has been significant progress due to cogeneration options, DG can also lead to increases in toward developing kW-scale CHP applications. Micro-CHP energy efficiency. Moreover, besides their environmental ben- systems are on the verge of becoming mass marketed as a efits, DG systems can reduce investment risks, they stimulate next generation domestic heating system [10], [11]. Several fuel diversification and energy autonomy, and the presence of manufacturers are preparing market introduction and retail generation close to demand can increase the power quality companies have started selling micro-CHP systems [12], [13]. and reliability of delivered electricity [3]–[5]. Currently, the The likely primary fuel for these systems is natural gas. Hence, penetration of DG at medium and low voltages, both in micro-CHP is envisaged as a promising next generation heat- distribution networks and inside customers’ households, is ing system for countries and regions with extensive natural gas increasing in developed countries worldwide [3]–[7]. infrastructures. Potential markets for micro-CHP are European countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, as well M. Houwing is with Eneco in the Netherlands. E-mail: as Japan and parts of the United States and Canada [10], [14]– [email protected]. [16]. In those areas, space heating and domestic hot water are R.R. Negenborn and B. De Schutter are with the Delft Center for Sys- tems and Control, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. E-mail: mainly produced inside the house via the conversion of natural {r.r.negenborn,b.deschutter}@tudelft.nl. gas in boilers. District heating networks, heat pumps, and solar 2 added value for investors of intelligently using the control Separate capabilities of micro-CHP units for the objective of demand generation response. Conclusions and directions for further research are given in Section IV. primary power plants energy 44 20 η = 45% e electricity 124 II. ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF MICRO-CHP UNDER boiler 80 80 HEAT-LED CONTROL ηth = 100% heat In order to analyze economic savings with intelligent micro- CHP control, it is important to have a reference case, both in terms of control strategy as well as economic feasibility of the application of micro-CHP. This section describes such a reference case, where micro-CHP units are controlled in a Cogeneration heat-led way. Heat-led control means that the control is fo- cused on following domestic heat demand. This type of control is envisaged as the most likely standard control strategy for micro−CHP 20 micro-CHP [10]. In the heat-led case micro-CHPs are placed η 100 e = 20% in houses, they operate under heat-led control, and electricity η = 80% th 80 is traded both ways between the retailer and households. A. Literature on standard control of micro-CHP Fig. 1. Energy efficiency with micro-CHP. There is a substantial body of literature on standard control strategies for micro-CHP systems and the associated perfor- boilers are only marginally used there. mance. A good overview of the literature on control strategy design and cost performance is presented in [21]. In [21] it is noted that there is a multitude of possible operating strategies C. Objective of the paper that can be generally classified as heat-led or electricity-led. It Compared to wind turbines and photovoltaic systems, is concluded that the control strategy for the first generations of micro-CHP is a special type of DG technology in the sense that micro-CHPs will be heat-led or electricity-led and that future the power output can be easily controlled. This characteristic, generations may incorporate cost and/or emission minimizing together with the fact that micro-CHP units are mostly coupled control. to heat storage systems [17], creates flexibility in power gen- More work on the design of standard control strategies eration. This paper analyzes the potential value of flexibility and on the impact of control strategies on variable costs for in micro-CHP operation. households can be found in [15], [22]–[25]. These sources Besides the standard control strategies envisaged for micro- report annual energy cost savings, relative to conventional CHP, which are aimed at following either heat or electricity households, in the range of 8–40 %. Savings depend on the demand, there are many other control objectives for which adopted control strategy, domestic energy demand and pricing micro-CHP systems can be deployed. Examples from [18]– regime. Throughout this paper we refer to ‘conventional house- [20] are the provision of intra-day balancing services, the holds’ as being households that take all electricity demand provision of black start services and improving power quality. from the grid (i.e., sold to households by retailers) and that Another objective for which to control micro-CHP is demand fulfill their heat demand with a conventional, gas-fired boiler. response, which is the ability of domestic net-consumption of Looking at the existing literature in relation to the work electricity to respond to real-time prices (net-consumption = presented in this section of this paper, we make the following consumption - production). This paper investigates the extent contributions: to which demand response with micro-CHP leads to reduced • Even though much work has been done on standard energy costs for households when compared to standard heat- control, a reference will need to be developed here to led control. serve as a basis against which more intelligent control schemes can be compared. The existing literature helps D.