Low carbon economic dispatch for virtual power plant considering energy storage

Virtual power plant (VPP) amalgamates diverse distributed resources, thereby unlocking the full potential of distributed energy's dispatch capabilities. Energy storage is an effective means to address the uncertainty of renewable energy and achieve energy complementarity. This study meticulously evaluates the finite nature of traditional energy within VPP, the unpredictability associated with renewable energy outputs, and the constraints faced by energy storage devices. It introduces strategic operational frameworks for VPP through cooperation between VPP operator and energy storage provider managing new type of electric energy storage systems. With the dual objectives of amplifying the economic gains for VPP operator and maximizing benefits for energy storage provider, this research formulates a VPP economic low-carbon dispatch model, guided by a carbon tax framework. The improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to solve the proposed dispatch model. The numerical results confirmed that the collaboration between the VPP operator and the energy storage provider mitigates the issues caused by the variability of renewable energy outputs on the VPP, resulting in a mutually beneficial scenario for both the operator and the storage provider. Additionally, carbon emissions have been drastically decreased in response to low carbon targets.