Optimized flexibility management enacting Data Centres participation in Smart Demand Response programs

•Scheduling and optimizing Data Centres operation.•Data Centre participation in Smart Demand Response programs.•Data Centre flexible energy resources.•Electronic marketplace for trading energy flexibility and ancillary services.

In this paper we address the problem of Data Centres (DCs) integration into the Smart Grid scenario by proposing a technique for scheduling and optimizing their operation allowing them to participate in Smart Demand Response programs. The technique is leveraging on DCs available flexible energy resources, on mechanisms for eliciting this latent flexibility and on an innovative electronic marketplace designed for trading energy flexibility and ancillary services. This will enact DCs to shape their energy demand to buy additional energy when prices are low and sell energy surplus when prices are high. At the same time DCs will be able to provide increased energy demand due to a large un-forecasted renewable energy production in their local grid, shed or shift energy demand over time to avoid a coincidental peak load, provide fast ramping power by turning on their backup fossil fuelled generators and injecting the energy surplus in the grid and finally provide reactive power regulation by changing their power factor. Numerical simulations results considering traces of an operational DC indicate the great potential of the proposed technique for supporting DCs participation in Smart Demand Response programs.