What does an aggregator do?
An aggregator bundles the flexibility of several units. Through aggregation, the different characteristics of different Units can be used for optimal marketing.
This is already happening very successfully in ultra-high and high voltage, where various industrial sites provide both balancing power and disconnectable loads as insurance for the transmission system operators. Via this route, many sites also participate in intraday trading and thus play an important role in the energy transition.
In medium voltage, the aggregation of larger wind farms and large PV systems could provide flexibility for distribution grid operators. And finally, in the low voltage, the feed-in of rooftop photovoltaic systems, the charging processes of electric cars, and the power demand of heat pumps and batteries must be coordinated in such a way that largely renewable energies are used and grid congestions are avoided.
How does this fit with flexQgrid?
In flexQgrid, precisely this integration of different Units into the distribution grid is being tested. The aim is to aggregate several Units in the low voltage and thus to enable the grid customers to fulfill the quota for feed-in or consumption adjustment specified by the grid operator in total and to coordinate the individual requirements with each other. In this way, individual customers are less restricted than by the quota and can also meet their requirements despite the quota.
It may make sense or be more economical not to control all units in the same way by the quota, but to react specifically with individual units. In flexQgrid. his task takes over Entelios (Link Partner Profile) . We first identified the largest photovoltaic Systems and a large battery storage facility whose control can make a significant contribution to the grid situation. The second step is to implement the control of the various Units and their integration into the aggregator's market platform. If the distribution grid operator now specifies a certain quota, Entelios as an aggregator can carry out secondary trading and thus achieve the optimal result for the customers of the individual units. In the last step, we want to carry out the concrete aggregation, secondary trading while complying with the quota specification and control in the field test.
In parallel with this work, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology has published a draft law on the rapid and secure integration of controllable consumption devices into distribution grids and on amending other provisions of energy law (Controllable Consumption Devices Act). This draft impressively shows that this topic is at the top of the political agenda for the energy transition. In the research project, we can show what a customer-friendly solution should look like.