Smart storage scheduling and forecasting for peak reduction on low-voltage feeders

The transition to a low carbon economy will likely bring new challenges to the distribution networks, which could face increased demands due to low-carbon technologies and new behavioural trends. A traditional solution to increased demand is network reinforcement through asset replacement, but this could be costly and disruptive. Smart algorithms combined with modern technologies can lead to inexpensive alternatives. In particular, battery storage devices with smart control algorithms can assist in load peak reduction. The control algorithms aim to schedule the battery to charge at times of low demand and discharge, feeding the network, at times of high load. This study analyses two scheduling algorithms, model predictive control (MPC) and fixed day-ahead scheduler (FDS), comparing against a set-point control (SPC) benchmark. The forecasts presented here cover a wide range of techniques, from traditional linear regression forecasts to machine learning methods. The results demonstrate that the forecasting and control methods need to be selected for each feeder taking into account the demand characteristics, whilst MPC tends to outperform the FDS on feeders with higher daily demand. This chapter contributes in two main directions: (i) several forecasting methods are considered and compared and (ii) new energy storage control algorithm, MPC with half-hourly updated (rolling) forecasts designed for low voltage network application, is introduced, analysed and compared.