Multi-objective operation optimization of a Distributed Energy System for a large-scale utility customer

With energy saving issues and growing environment protection awareness, interests in distributed generation have been intensifying. Distributed Energy Systems (DESs) are being widely investigated, since they are expected to be largely used to increase the efficiency of energy supply and to address environmental problems. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to obtain the optimized operation strategies of a DES, to reduce both energy costs and environmental impacts. The DES includes different energy conversion devices and thermal energy storage systems to satisfy time-varying user demands. The Pareto front, including the best possible trade-offs between the economic and the environmental objectives, is obtained by minimizing a weighted sum of the total energy costs and CO2 emissions. The operators of DESs can choose the operation strategy from the Pareto front based on the economic and environmental priorities. The method is implemented for a DES with a large-scale utility customer as end-user. Results show that the optimized operation of the DES reduces energy costs and CO2 emissions, as compared with conventional energy supply systems. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to analyze the effects on energy costs and environmental impacts of variations in the configuration of the DES.