Virtual power plant management considering energy storage systems

The increasing awareness of climate change and of limited fossil resources is pushing the electric power system toward a paradigm change. Renewable Energy Sources (RES) such as wind and sun will provide a higher and higher contribution to the electric power generation. Coordinating and controlling multiple small power plants, Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and controllable loads with a central Energy Management System (EMS) make it possible to form Virtual Power Plants (VPP). In the paper will be shown how a VPP offers a solution to increase the integration of the energy produced by RES into the electric network. Especially the paper focuses on the energy storage dimensioning within a VPP structure. The sensitivity analysis shows how the power generated the RES share as well as the RES technology influence the optimal storage capacity.