EE: EAS Trailblazers Department Seminar

Abstract: Distributed energy resources (DERs) like roof-top solar are becoming accessible for the large-scale aggregation anytime and anywhere with the breakthroughs in IoT, optimization, and AI. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued ORDER 2222 to remove barriers for distributed-energy-resource aggregators (DERAs) to directly participate in the wholesale electricity markets. Since DERs are originated in a distribution network, aggregated DERs must pass through the distribution grid managed by a distribution system operator (DSO) to participate in the wholesale market operated by an independent system operator (ISO). Therefore, the DSO-DERA-ISO coordination plays a critical role in supporting wholesale market participation of DERA while maintaining the distribution network operation security.

To resolve the DSO-DERA-ISO coordination problem, we proposed a novel coordination mechanism in the form of a forward auction to allocate dynamic distribution network access to DERAs. By decoupling DSO-DERA-ISO in real-time operations, the proposed access allocation mechanism is perhaps the simplest coordination solution, with minimal deviation from the standard DSO and ISO operating procedures. We prove individual rationality, revenue adequacy, and price monotonicity for the proposed mechanism in both robust and risk (CVaR) based distribution network access allocations. For large-scale DER aggregation, we proposed the first competitive DER aggregation method for DERA to participate in the wholesale market as a virtual storage. The proposed DER aggregation solution provides energy service competitive with the incumbent utility company, attracting DERs to join the aggregation. And our solution achieves the same social welfare-maximizing outcome as if each individual DER participates directly in the wholesale market.

Bio: Cong Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering from the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University. She received a B.S. degree from Wuhan University and an

M.S. degree from Tsinghua University, both in Electrical Engineering. Her expertise and research interests lie in the intersection of power system engineering, optimization theory, power system economics, and electricity markets. Her current research focuses on decarbonization solutions through large-scale aggregation of distributed energy resources, battery storage participation in wholesale and retail electricity markets, and alternative energy resources such as green hydrogen. Cong Chen was the recipient of the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) General Meeting in 2019, and the Prize Conference Paper Award at the IEEE PES General Meeting in 2023.