Design and operational management of energy hubs: a DS4S (Screening, selection, sizing, and scheduling) framework

The contemporary climate change crisis has motivated the need for decentralization of energy networks. Over recent years, several often closely defined concepts have been introduced for decentralized energy networks. These include “microgrid,” “mesogrid,” “nanogrid,” “energy internet,” “community energy network,” “social energy network,” “peer-to-peer energy network,” and “virtual power plant.” The critical challenge in this context is determining the optimal extent of decentralization and the design and operation of new local energy networks. With the rapid developments in distributed generation and storage (DGS) technologies and the introduction of various products with diverse specifications, the selection of a DGS system, with decisions as to its appropriate size, has become a complex problem. DS4S is a decision support tool based on discrete optimization algorithms. It supports energy hub developers in the concurrent screening, selection, sizing, and scheduling of DGS systems based on various types of objective (minimum initial investment, minimum levelized cost of energy, highest reliability, etc.). It supports both on-network and off-network conditions. Discussion is also provided in this chapter about the development of cooperative energy hubs and associated challenges. Two mechanisms are considered for the operation of multiuser energy hubs, namely, “DSO-out-of-the-loop” and “DSO-in-the-loop” systems. Although for a single energy hub DSO-out-of-the-loop might be an effective approach, networks of energy hubs may require a “DSO-in-the-loop” system due to complexities involved.