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

毫无疑问，可再生能源和其他分布式能源(DER)被视为实现可持续能源系统的主要方式之一(Hu等人，2021年)，以及帮助向偏远、离网的社区提供能源。随着时间的推移，这些能源可以相互支持，形成更广泛的社区分配能源网络，同时整合或帮助建立更复杂的相互连接的能源系统。通常，电力市场被视为实现新技术解决方案的一条途径，随着能源系统转向低碳技术，输电和配电/地方一级的市场设计都需要发展。鉴于这些资源的变化性，提供灵活的服务以帮助平衡可再生发电的变化性并支持安全的系统运行，同时降低与这些技术的整合和连接相关的成本，正变得至关重要。随着太阳能和风能资源在重要性和数量上的持续增长，这一数字也在增加。此外，与这些资源相关的零边际成本及其跨期运行技术限制，可能会对未来电力系统中的传统电力市场设计构成严重挑战，已经开展了大量工作，以了解和制定适当的机制，使电力需求研究机构能够参与这些市场。这包括利用不同的市场设计和概念，如虚拟发电厂(VPP)管理各种DER提供的灵活性服务。因此，这项研究将评估新的低碳能源系统中电力市场和灵活性辅助服务的设计和分析。拟议的项目主要是因为需要启用和促进提供易出错的服务，以帮助平衡可再生能源发电的可变性，支持系统的安全运行，同时降低与这些技术的集成和连接相关的成本。此外，这些解决方案还需要为新技术的投资者以及致力于深度脱碳能源系统的各个政治司法管辖区提供收入机会，以缓解与气候变化相关的潜在风险。对于这样的脱碳能源系统，很大一部分能源需求将由能源部提供。此外，该项目将寻求调查这种自下而上的方法，寻求支持肯尼亚等发展中国家农村地区的电气化，如何帮助发展和改善网络薄弱的电力系统，并使离网社区系统能够逐步整合。

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.