A Two-Layer Peer-To-Peer Energy Sharing Model for Virtual Power Plants Based on Demand-Side Management

Abstract

As a transitional layer between the electricity market and prosumers, Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) can effectively integrate distributed resources of prosumers to participate in the electricity market to improve the energy economy for prosumers. This study aggregates distributed resources such as photovoltaics, energy storage, and flexible loads into a VPP within the same community microgrid. A two-layer peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing model within and among VPPs is established to consume PV power and construct a stable power supply system. At the VPP-layer, a comprehensive energy management model is created to optimize the scheduling of flexible loads to achieve optimal energy economic performance of the community. At the market-layer, a VPP bidding model is established to organize P2P energy sharing among VPPs. The VPP-layer scheduling provides initial information for the marketlayer to participate in energy sharing, and energy sharing results of the market-layer are fed back to the VPP-layer as boundary conditions for re-scheduling. The energy economy analysis of the proposed system shows that the community's cost is reduced by participating in P2P sharing, and the two-layer interactive mechanism can further reduce the community's cost by increasing the quantity of shared energy in the P2P market, achieving dual technological and economic benefits.