Hybrid Heat Pump Flexibility Allocation: Quantified Thermal Comfort-Based Congestion Management

Congestion management has garnered significant attention in the Netherlands due to the sharply rising pressure on the limited capacity of distribution networks. As an increasingly deployed flexible asset, hybrid heat pumps can help mitigate congestion in distribution networks. However, one key challenge in allocating flexibility during congestion management is to ensure user thermal comfort. In this context, this work proposes the incorporation of quantified thermal comfort into the modeling of congestion management using hybrid heat pumps. The grid topology model is constructed based on a fieldcollected low-voltage distribution network in the Netherlands, where end-user thermal comfort is quantified based on a real dataset, and integrated into the optimization objective of the congestion management model. The methodology is tested on a practical case study in the Netherlands, where flexibility allocation under different power limitation levels is analyzed. The results demonstrate how flexibility allocation and pricing change under varying congestion management requirements and their impact on user thermal comfort.