A Comprehensive Review on Power System Flexibility: Concept, Services, and Products

Abstract

Massive proliferation of Variable Energy Resources (VERs) in modern power systems has posed a variety of challenges to the reliable operation of the power grid and has, at times, jeopardized the system flexibility. Flexibility is the system's ability to respond to and cope with the imbalances between supply and demand while managing the uncertainty and variability of VERs and maintaining the power system's security and reliability within the acceptable margins. Leveraging the system's available resources and capabilities, the system operators must take strategic actions to mitigate the impacts of VERs on the grid flexibility at a reasonable cost. The concept of flexibility is somewhat novel, which calls for profound studies and analyses to address different aspects of flexibility, but not limited to definition and characterization of standard metrics and indices to measure the power grid flexibility, flexibility-centred operation and planning models for the power grid, etc. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research on power system flexibility, including existing definitions and quantification measures, flexible resources, and flexibility products and services in electricity markets.

Development and Implementation of a Flexibility Platform for Active System Management at Both Transmission and Distribution Level in Greece

“…By its definition and the basic idea behind it, the F-channel platform represents an application of a web-based client-server for TSO-DSO coordination, utilizing high-resolution weather forecasting [34], artificial intelligence methods [35][36][37][38], a GUI based on the georeferenced projection of the grid on the map, and cloud calculation engines. The F-channel platform should encompass and implement a set of common functionalities for the SOs regarding the enhancement of forecasting capability and efficiency in various time frames, limiting the volume of flexibility needs [39][40][41] in the process, as well as the identification and prequalification of various flexibility resources willing to purchase grid services [42][43][44] through the "market-to-network" coupling of the alternative solutions. In a simplified way, this type of relationship between the under-investigation process participants is demonstrated in Figure 2, and it involves a Forecasting and a Coordination module.…”

Analysis of different flexible technologies in the Spain NECP for 2030

“…To analyze the contribution of the storage technologies to the system operation, we must first introduce the definition of operational flexibility as the ability of the system to withstand the uncertainty and variability in generation and electricity demand while maintaining the desired reliability at an affordable cost (Impram, Varbak Nese, and Oral, 2020). We analyze the long-medium-term system operation with a time scope from several weeks to several years representing only the operation of the generation and storage assets (Hadi et al, 2022).…”

A Flexibility Platform for Managing Outages and Ensuring the Power System’s Resilience during Extreme Weather Conditions

“…The OneNet system provides operators with useful tools to simultaneously coordinate the flexible resources located at the distribution grid and monitor the condition of the real-time distribution grid. Flexible resources, the DSO, the TSO, and the market operator have successfully collaborated [25][26][27][28][29].…”