Stackelberg Dispatch of an Integrated Energy System with Ammonia Co-Firing and Closed-Loop Carbon Responsibility Feedback

This study addresses coal-fired unit retrofitting, multi-energy carbon responsibility tracing, and operator–user interdependence in low-carbon economic dispatch of integrated energy systems. A model integrates a coal-fired power plant (CFPP), carbon capture system (CCS), power-to-ammonia (P2A), and combined cooling unit (ACC). It covers ammonia production, storage and co-firing, cooling using residual energy, and CO2 capture, utilization and storage. A multi-objective Stackelberg game between the operator and aggregated users embeds a carbon responsibility closed loop, incorporating dynamic responsibility transfer, internal user carbon settlement, and integrated demand response. Electricity and gas loads respond to energy prices and additional carbon costs through price elasticity. User cost optimization shifts and curtails heating and cooling loads. A bilevel interactive method combines the non-dominated sorting whale optimization algorithm (NSWOA) and Gurobi with blockwise carbon coordination and strict closed-loop verification. The technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) selects a representative solution. Under the specified typical-day conditions, the scenario comparisons show that joint operation improves the operator’s objective by approximately 15%, reduces system carbon emissions by approximately 5%, and lowers primary energy consumption by over 10%. Carbon responsibility feedback further reduces emissions, primary energy consumption, and user costs in this case study. The model translates responsibility into user-side price signals and coordinates operator–user decisions.