Scheduling and operation of RES-based virtual power plants with e-mobility: A novel integrated stochastic model

In the present paper, an Energy Management System is proposed to optimally schedule and operate a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) composed of charging stations for e-vehicles, stationary batteries, and renewable energy sources. The model is capable to optimize the bidding process on the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) through a two-stage stochastic formulation, which considers the uncertainties affecting the evaluation of the energy required for the next day. The stochastic scenarios are generated through a Monte Carlo procedure and clustered by a reduced domain k-means algorithm. To manage in real-time the operation of the VPP, a new Rolling Horizon mixed-integer linear programming model is adopted. The effectiveness of the tools developed is proved by numerical simulations reproducing the different operating conditions of the VPP. The benefits of the approach are confirmed by extensive analyses performed over a 4-month period. An increase of the profits of 23 % compared to a non-optimized strategy and of 6 % with respect to a deterministic optimization is observed.