Two-stage optimal scheduling of virtual power plant with wind-photovoltaic-hydro-storage considering flexible load reserve

In view of the current situation of China’s power system to make regulation for power generation and load side balance mainly by power plants that are subject to unified scheduling, the existing non-uniformly scheduled small hydropower resources of China can be integrated and utilized effectively when considering the aggregation and control of virtual power plant (VPP) towards distributed resources. Meanwhile, the economic operation of VPP under different seasons of rivers can be achieved, and the consumption of renewable energy such as wind power and photovoltaic (PV) can be promoted. In addition, a certain flexible load reserve (FLR) capacity can be obtained by signing medium and long-term contracts. In this context, a day-ahead and real-time two-stage rolling optimal scheduling strategy for VPP including distributed wind power, PV, and small hydropower is proposed. In the day-ahead stage, aiming at the minimization of operation cost and adopting the multi-scenarios analysis method, the day-ahead scheduling and FLR plan of VPP is formulated. In the real-time stage, with preciser wind and PV prediction, the economic scheduling considering deviation penalty cost can be achieved. The case study of VPP in Jingning County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province of China verifies the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method.