Incorporating flexibility options into distribution grid reinforcement planning: A techno-economic framework approach

Distributed energy resources (DER) and new types of consumer equipment create many challenges for distribution system operators (DSOs). Power congestions that can potentially be created during normal or contingency situations will lead to increased investments into grid reinforcement. An alternative solution is to use the flexibility provided by the local resources in the grid. In this paper value of flexibility (VoF) is used as an indicator that can be utilized by the DSO to compare it against costs of the different active elements (AEs) providing flexibility services (FSs). The paper proposes flexibility characterization framework that allows to generalize the process of the cost estimations of any AE by using combinations of cost functions. A case study based on an actual distribution grid is provided to demonstrate the potential application of the framework. Results show that by comparing VoF and total cost of the flexibility the most cost-efficient solution could be found.