Optimization Operation of Multi-user Heating System Based on Master-slave Game Theory

With the continuous advancement of photovoltaic poverty alleviation and the "coal-to-electricity" policies in China, rural areas face issues such as limited optimization methods for user heating systems and the widespread, inefficient management of electric heating among many users. Therefore, this paper proposes a bi-level optimization method based on a master-slave game, with the load aggregator (LA) as the leader and heating users as the followers. In the bi-level master-slave game model, the upper-level LA formulates internal time-of-use electricity prices based on its own profit model, while the lower-level users respond to the upper-level electricity prices in order to minimize their heating costs and develop their own heating plans. Case analysis shows that the proposed method ensures the economic operation of the user heating system while maintaining user comfort.