Bottom-up Approach for Improving Systems with weak power systems networks and gradual integration of off-grid community systems

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There is no doubt that renewable generation and other Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are seen as one of the main ways to realize sustainable energy systems (Hu et al., 2021), as well as help provide energy to remote, off-grid, communities. Over time, these can be integrated to support each other and form the wider community distribution energy networks, while becoming integrated or helping build more complex interconnected energy systems. Typically, electricity markets are seen as a way forward to enable novel technical solutions, and market designs at both transmission and distribution/local levels need to evolve as the energy systems shift towards the low carbon technologies. Given the variability nature associated with these resources, provision of flexibility services that can help with balancing variability of renewable generation and support secure system operation, while lowering costs associated with integration and connections of these technologies, are becoming crucial. This increases as the solar and wind resources continue to grow in importance and numbers. In addition, zero marginal cost associated with these resources, as well as their inter-temporal operational technical constraints, may pose serious challenges for conventional electricity market designs in the future electricity systems, and significant work has been carried out to understand and develop adequate mechanisms to enable participation of DERs in such markets. This includes utilization of different market designs and concepts such as Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) management of flexibility services provided by various DERs. As such, this research study will evaluate the Novel Design and Analysis of Electricity Markets and Flexibility Ancillary Services in Low Carbon Energy Systems.The proposed project is largely motivated by the need to enable and facilitate provision of fallibility services that can help with balancing variability of renewable generation and support secure system operation while lowering costs associated with integration and connections of these technologies. In addition, the solutions also need to provide revenue opportunities to investors in novel technologies, as well as various political jurisdictions committed to deeply decarbonize energy systems in order to mitigate against the potential risks associated with the climate change. For such decarbonized energy systems, significant portion of the energy needs will be supplied by the DERs. Moreover, the project will seek to investigate how such bottom-up approach, seeking to support electrification in rural areas in developing countries such as Kenya, can help develop and improving power systems with weak networks and enable gradual integration of off-grid community systems.