Operational Optimization for a Regional Multi-energy System Considering Thermal Quasi-dynamic Characteristics

With the development of energy internet technology, the operational optimization of regional electricity-heating-gas systems is becoming a key research area. Considering that the thermal system’s quasi-dynamic characteristics will make the dispatching of regional multi-energy systems more accurate, the flexibility and energy efficiency of electricity-heating-gas system’s operations can be improved. The quasi-dynamic characteristics of regional thermal networks are analyzed here, as well as the demand side of the heating system. Based on thermal inertia characteristics, the virtual thermal energy storage models of both thermal networks and buildings, considering the thermal comfort index, are formulated synthetically for a central heating system. By comparing the operating results of different adjustment methods, a quality adjustment method is found to have the most flexibility for regional heating system control. With the hot water supply network and heating load modeling considering virtual storage, an operational optimization model for a regional electricity-heating-gas system is presented with the purpose of reducing the total operating costs. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Through a case study, it is found that when considering the virtual energy storage specialty for both the heating supply and demand side, the heating load can be shifted across the time periods under a time-of-use (TOU) price, leading to the obvious economic improvement of multi-energy system operation.