Probabilistic Flexibility Aggregation of DERs for Ancillary Services Provision
Open accessAbstract
This paper presents a grid-aware probabilistic approach to compute the aggregated flexibility at the grid connection point (GCP) of active distribution networks (ADNs) to allow the participation of DERs in ancillary services (AS) markets. Specifically, an optimal power flow (OPF) method is used to compute the aggregated capability for the provision of multiple AS at the GCP of an ADN over the full AS provision horizon. The proposed method extends current approaches for the time-coupled flexibility aggregation, allowing to consider multiple services simultaneously, ensure cost-effectiveness of the used DERs and handle uncertainties in a probabilistic way. The disaggregation of the total flexibility into individual DERs power flexibilities accounts for the operational costs associated to the provision of different services. This ensures cost-effectiveness while maximizing the value of the aggregated flexibility, assuming known service prices. Empirical uncertainty sets are obtained to achieve a predefined coverage of the probability distribution in line with recent developments in the Nordic AS markets. Finally, a feeder-decomposition approach is proposed to ensure applicability to realistic distribution networks with a large number of buses. Case studies show the effectiveness of the method, highlight the importance of network constraints and time-coupling and illustrate its applicability to realistic distribution systems.This paper presents a grid-aware probabilistic approach to compute the aggregated flexibility at the grid connection point (GCP) of active distribution networks (ADNs) to allow the participation of DERs in ancillary services (AS) markets. Specifically, an optimal power flow (OPF) method is used to compute the aggregated capability for the provision of multiple AS at the GCP of an ADN over the full AS provision horizon. The proposed method extends current approaches for the time-coupled flexibility aggregation, allowing to consider multiple services simultaneously, ensure cost-effectiveness of the used DERs and handle uncertainties in a probabilistic way. The disaggregation of the total flexibility into individual DERs power flexibilities accounts for the operational costs associated to the provision of different services. This ensures cost-effectiveness while maximizing the value of the aggregated flexibility, assuming known service prices. Empirical uncertainty sets are obtained to achieve a predefined coverage of the probability distribution in line with recent developments in the Nordic AS markets. Finally, a feeder-decomposition approach is proposed to ensure applicability to realistic distribution networks with a large number of buses. Case studies show the effectiveness of the method, highlight the importance of network constraints and time-coupling and illustrate its applicability to realistic distribution systems.
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- Authors
- Jacobs, M., & Paolone, M.
- Affiliations
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Venue
- IEEE Transactions on Power Systems
- Published
- 2026-09
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 3965-3978
- ISSN
- 0885-8950 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-0679
- OpenAlex
- W7134138323
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 1.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Licence
- Locations
- IEEE Transactions on Power Systems (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
- Funders
- Swiss Federal Office of Energy
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Smart Grid Energy Management
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Optimal Power Flow Distribution
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Power System Optimization
- Keywords
- ancillary services, distributed energy resources, flexibility aggregation, active distribution networks, optimal power flow, grid connection point, cost-effectiveness
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