Exploiting Electric Heat Pump Flexibility For Renewable Generation Matching

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy sources in the modern electric grid, it becomes more technically difficult and costly for system operators to balance generation and demand as traditional providers of flexibility (i.e., flexible generation) become uneconomic. Therefore new sources of flexibility are needed to maintain reliable operation. Flexible demand, including from electric heat pump (EHP) resources, is one source of flexibility which can be utilised to cope with the uncertainty of renewable generation by providing demand response services. In this paper, a high resolution and granular domestic energy consumption model is applied, which uses a four-node electrical analogue to represent the thermal characteristics of domestic dwellings. Then the performance of an EHP cluster coupled with dwellings is simulated. A control algorithm is designed to match the clusters electric load with renewable generation profile. Recognising the potentially detrimental effect of EHP flexibility exploitation on end-user thermal comfort, the loss of comfort level of occupants is assessed. The possibility of significant thermal discomfort from renewable generation matching is demonstrated.