Virtual Power Plant Optimization Utilizing the FCR-N Market : A revenue maximization modelling study based on building components and a Battery Energy Storage System. Based on values from Sweden's first virtual power plant, Väla.

Sammanfattning: Renewable energy resources are projected to claim a larger part of the Swedish power mix in coming years. This could potentially increase frequency fluctuations in the power grid due to the intermittency of renewable power generating resources. These fluctuations can in turn cause issues in the power grid if left unchecked. In order to resolve these issues, countermeasures are employed. One such countermeasure is for private actors to regulate power; in exchange they are financially compensated through reserve markets. The reserve market studied in this thesis is called Frequency Containment Reserve – Normal (FCR-N). Currently hydroelectric power provides almost all regulated power within this market. As the need for power regulation is expected to increase in the coming years, there exists a need to study other technologies capable of power regulation. This thesis focuses on one such technology called, virtual power plants. While virtual power plants are operating in other parts of the world, there were no virtual power plants operating in Sweden. As a result, the nature of an optimized virtual power plant and the economic benefits of optimization had not been previously investigated. To answer such questions, this thesis modelled and optimized the revenue of a virtual power plant. The examined virtual power plant consisted of cooling chillers, lighting, ventilation fans and a battery energy storage system. Where varying their total power demand allowed for them to provide power regulation. With the virtual power plant market in Sweden being in its infancy, this thesis serves as a first look into how an optimized virtual power plant using these components could function. To put the economic results of the optimization into context, a comparative model was constructed. The comparative model was based on a semi-static linear model. This is what the thesis’s industry partner Siemens currently uses. For the simulated scenarios, the optimized model generated at least 85% higher net revenues than the semi-static linear model. The increase in revenue holds potential to increase the uptake of virtual power plants on the Swedish market, thus increasing stability in the power grid and easing the transition to renewable energy.