Joint optimal scheduling of multiple virtual power plants with electric heating loads

As new power systems advance, virtual power plant (VPP), acting as an aggregation platform for distributed energy resources and controllable loads, significantly boosts the flexibility and economy of power grids. With its large-scale and controllable characteristics, electric heating load (EHL) is poised to become a highly potential regulation resource in VPP. Its aggregation and optimal scheduling can significantly enhance the operational efficiency of VPP and their ability to participate in grid services. Therefore, this paper addresses the regulation potential of EHLs in VPP, and investigates its application in grid regulation and joint optimization of multiple virtual power plants (MVPP). First, a VPP model incorporating EHLs is constructed, integrating diverse resources such as wind power, photovoltaics (PV), gas turbines (GT), energy storage (ES), and EHLs. Additionally, a joint optimization framework for MVPP is proposed to achieve optimal scheduling via a coordination and management center. Building on this foundation, a joint optimal scheduling model is formulated, encompassing the objective function, dynamic pricing of internal electricity tariffs, and constraints. Finally, the proposed model is validated in terms of reducing operation cost, enhancing new energy consumption and optimizing power trading strategy through the analysis of three types of VPP, namely, residential area, commercial area and office area. This validation offers a robust basis for the cooperative scheduling of MVPP. • Propose a MVPP joint optimization framework with EHLs to integrate resources and enhance flexibility and economy. • EHLs as controllable resources significantly improve regulation flexibility and promote renewable energy consumption. • Introduce internal electricity price mechanism to incentivize internal energy trading and optimize resource allocation. • Validate the model’s effectiveness in reducing costs and optimizing trading strategies through case studies of three types of VPP. • Provide theoretical and technical support for MVPP collaborative scheduling and explore the application of EHLs in the reserve market.