Local distribution network management through optimal flexibility scheduling: the Austrian pilot of the Horizon 2020 MERLON project

The EU electricity system is going through a transition driven by increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and new energy marker actors, such as prosumers and aggregators. Decentralization of electricity generation can facilitate the integration of more renewable energy sources, increase security of supply and decarbonize the energy future. To benefit from these opportunities while keeping pace with the transformation of the power sector and evolving needs of energy market players, the EU Horizon 2020 project “Integrated Modular Energy Systems and Local Flexibility Trading for Neural Energy Islands (MERLON)” has developed an integrated local energy management system (ILESEM) to support local distribution grid operation in a high-renewable energy scenario. ILESEM performs a multi-level optimization using decentralized intelligence for efficient coordination of DERs within a local distribution grid. This way, ILESEM is used to form a self-coordinated and self-balanced energy island while offering services to the wider electrical system. An algorithmic framework has been designed that optimally schedules battery energy storage, local generation, and demand side management offering a cost-efficient pathway (in comparison to high-CAPEX grid upgrade investments) for active local distribution grid management in the presence of high volumes of variable renewable energy. The effectiveness of DER scheduling in an Austrian pilot site has been demonstrated and replication of the solution in the Indian context has been explored.