Economic dispatch of integrated energy systems taking into account the participation of flexible loads and concentrated solar power plants

In light of the high penetration of renewable energy sources into the grid and the associated power curtailment phenomenon, this paper proposes a multi-energy conversion scheduling strategy for an electric-heat-gas-cooling integrated energy system. To mitigate the operational constraints and environmental impact of conventional cogeneration units, this study integrates a concentrating solar power plant equipped with a thermal storage system into the conventional cogeneration framework. Moreover, considering load-side uncertainties, flexible electric and thermal loads are incorporated into system scheduling to enhance system adaptability and operational flexibility. Finally, a mixed-integer programming algorithm is employed to solve the optimization problem. Simulation results demonstrate that incorporating the flexible load scheduling strategy reduces daily operational costs by 2.82 %, power curtailment losses by 22.07 %, and decreases the peak-to-valley difference of electric loads by 14.68 %. Integrating concentrating solar power plant into system operation reduces daily operational costs by 3.70 %, cuts carbon emissions by 20.30 %, and lowers daily gas purchases by 11.49 %. These findings validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. • An integrated energy system encompassing four energy sources is proposed. • The integration of concentrating solar power plants with cogeneration units. • Introduction of flexible electric and thermal loads to participate in dispatch.