Local flexibility market framework for grid support services to distribution networks

The increasing volume of distributed resources and user-dependent loads in local networks has increased the concern for congestion and voltage management in distribution networks. To mitigate these issues, the implementation of local flexibility markets has been proposed to assist distribution system operators (DSOs) to manage their networks efficiently. This paper presents the framework of a local flexibility market, including the market participants and their roles. This framework aims to empower DSOs with a market-based instrument for the alleviation of congestion incidents by exploiting the flexibility of local resources. The proposed market aims to provide a tool for the holistic management of distribution networks by trading both reservation and activation of flexibility services, indifferent of the type and the timeline of the needed service. Three market modes are proposed, i.e., long-term, short-term and real-time market, and the interactions among those modes are shown. The operation of the market is explained in detail, including the identification of the needed services, the activation of the market as well as the proposed bidding, clearing and settlement mechanisms. The modelling of the long-term and real-time markets is also presented, along with some indicative simulation results for long-term and real-time services. Finally, the future developments as well as the major conclusions are discussed.