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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Energy Res. , 31 March 2025
Sec. Sustainable Energy Systems
Volume 13 - 2025 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2025.1442919
This article is part of the Research Topic Optimal Scheduling of Demand Response Resources In Energy Markets For High Trading Revenue and Low Carbon Emissions View all 34 articles
This article proposes a hybrid collaborative energy storage configuration method for active distribution networks based on improved particle swarm optimization to address the challenges of increased frequency regulation difficulty, increased voltage deviation, and reduced safety and stability when integrating wind and photovoltaic power generation into active distribution networks. The paper analyzes the factors that affect the energy storage configuration caused by the integration of renewable energy generation, analyzes the charging and discharging scheduling strategies of the energy storage system, and establishes corresponding mathematical models. The paper proposes an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm. Simulation and case analysis show that the algorithm can stably achieve optimized configuration, stable frequency regulation, and reduce carbon emissions of the energy storage system.
In the past 50 years, the challenges and uncertainties faced by the global energy system have been at their highest level. Developing a green economy and reducing dependence on traditional energy is an important measure for countries around the world to achieve carbon emissions reduction. It is urgent to encourage the development of the new energy industry, change the traditional economic structure, and develop wind and solar energy to change the current energy institutions (Pathak et al., 2023). According to the 2022 edition of the BP World Energy Statistical Yearbook, energy storage is estimated to be a solution to the energy crisis.
Active distribution network hybrid collaborative energy storage configuration refers to the combination of different types of energy storage technologies (such as battery energy storage, supercapacitors, compressed air energy storage, etc.) with traditional power distribution network systems, achieving flexible scheduling and optimized operation of the power grid through intelligent control and collaborative management (Du et al., 2023). The development of this configuration can be traced back to the demand for the popularization of renewable energy in the power system and the development of energy storage technology. In history, with the increase of renewable energy and the popularization of distributed generation, traditional distribution network systems have faced greater challenges, such as voltage stability, power balance, etc. The introduction of energy storage technology can effectively alleviate these problems (Kroičs and Ģirts, 2022). In terms of development, with the advancement of technology and the increasing demand for clean energy, the hybrid collaborative energy storage configuration of active distribution networks will gradually be more widely applied and developed. A heuristic approach for inserting multiple-complex coefficient filters (DSTATCOM) into the distribution system, as presented by Kumar et al. (2024), has shown significant improvements in power quality (Kumar et al., 2024).
This article proposes a hybrid collaborative energy storage configuration method for active distribution networks based on improved multi-objective optimization. The method considers the optimization control strategy of energy output and energy storage system output participating in grid frequency regulation, and proposes a distributed energy storage capacity optimization configuration method; Establish a two-layer optimization model, improve and enhance the optimization algorithm of the model, achieve close coupling between planning and operation, and make the configuration scheme set more effective.
The grid structure of energy storage systems usually includes the following main components: energy storage devices, including battery energy storage, supercapacitors, compressed air energy storage, and various types of energy storage devices (Behabtu et al., 2020; Gugulothu et al., 2023). Power conversion device: used to convert the energy stored in energy storage devices into electrical energy, or to convert electrical energy into an acceptable form for energy storage devices. Control and Management System: Responsible for monitoring the operational status of the energy storage system, implementing charge and discharge control of energy storage equipment, and optimizing scheduling of the energy storage system through intelligent algorithms (Guo et al., 2021). As highlighted by Kumar et al. (2024), the use of metaheuristic techniques, such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and their hybrids, can significantly enhance the stability and efficiency of the energy storage system (Kumar et al., 2022). Connection interfaces with the power system: including power interfaces connected to the distribution or transmission network, as well as interfaces connected to renewable energy generation systems, electric vehicle charging facilities, and other equipment (Ali et al., 2023). Security protection system: used to monitor and protect the energy storage system from potential failures or safety risks during operation, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the system. These components together constitute the grid structure of the energy storage system, realizing the application and operation of energy storage technology in the power system. The grid structure of the energy storage system is shown in Figure 1.
As noted by Kumar et al. (2021a), the integration of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) systems into the grid requires careful management to maintain system stability and power quality (Kumar et al., 2021a; Kumar et al., 2021b). Taking the fluctuation of active power in photovoltaic power generation as an example, the fluctuation of wind power and load can be obtained similarly. With the increasing popularity of photovoltaics, if photovoltaic power is directly injected into the public grid without any control, this high-frequency power fluctuation will lead to voltage fluctuations, thereby reducing the reliability and power quality of the power system. Therefore, the power fluctuation of photovoltaic power should be limited within a certain range (Paul et al., 2021). At present, due to the fluctuation of photovoltaic power generation usually occurring less than 1 min apart, the use of energy storage system output is often used to control the smooth fluctuation of photovoltaic power. Usually, when the fluctuation of photovoltaic power does not exceed the maximum allowable power of HESS (Hybrid Energy Storage System), only the power of HESS is used to smooth these power fluctuations while keeping the photovoltaic converter operating in MPPT mode. That is, smooth downward power fluctuations through discharge (positive power,
Taking the power fluctuation of photovoltaics within 1 min as an example, as shown in Figure 2, power fluctuation can be defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum power values measured at the PCC(Point of Common Coupling) within 1 min.
As shown in Figure 2, at time t,
Based on the historical data of active power in the power grid, Equation 2 can be used to calculate
Among them,
ESS (Electric Storage System) is usually charged during load valleys and discharged during peak periods (Chaspierre et al., 2022). Assuming that the charging and discharging strategy of BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3, based on the equivalent load curve,
While considering the charging and discharging power, the constraints on the discharge capacity during the continuous discharge time period are considered, given the known charging and discharging time periods. Divide the continuous charging and discharging periods using time of use electricity prices: the low electricity price period corresponds to the low load period, and charge the energy storage system during this stage; During periods of high electricity prices corresponding to peak load periods, the energy storage system discharges. However, under the high penetration rate of volatile energy, the load will be locally supplied by volatile energy, so the demand for peak valley difference of the load will be affected, and the advantage of peak shaving and valley filling in energy storage systems cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, considering the impact of volatile energy on peak and valley load demand, a mathematical model is established to obtain the division of HESS charging and discharging time periods based on the solution situation.
The system frequency fluctuation mainly involves two situations: an increase in frequency and a decrease in frequency. When the frequency increases, it is only necessary to reduce the output of the wind turbine. That is, adjusting the pitch angle reduces the amount of wind energy captured by the wind turbine. Therefore, this article mainly studies the situation of frequency reduction in the power grid. When the frequency of the power grid suddenly drops, the frequency regulation control strategy of the wind storage joint system is as follows: (1) When the system frequency deviation
The initial population of the particle swarm algorithm is randomly generated. Assuming that the problem to be solved has an m-dimension, the position and velocity of the i-th particle are defined in Equations 3, 4, respectively.
The current experience fitness is defined by Equation 5.
The global optimal solution for the entire population after updating the velocity and position of the current particle is Equation 6:
The velocity and position of particles are updated using Equations 7, 8:
In the formula:
Equation 9 that needs to be supplemented in the paper is as follows:
The solution steps are: initialize the population information, which includes the number of populations, the positions and velocities of each particle; Each particle is fed into the fitness function for solving
Select historical data from a city in western China for analysis in 2022, with a 600 kW wind turbine and a 30 MW load. Selecting 1 year as the data collection unit, the sampling interval for photovoltaic power and load power is 10 min. Verify the typical day data taken in the previous section in a 33 node power system. Install wind power with a rated power of 600 KW at nodes 6 and 32 respectively, and plan to install one energy storage system. The installation location can be selected from any node from node 1 to node 33. In the process of configuring energy storage, calculate the average value of the energy storage configuration capacity in the objective function, and finally converge to 612,931 yuan with the comprehensive cost as the goal. Record the iterative trend of Pareto solution set, and the convergence process curve is shown in Figure 5.
The one-time investment cost of this system for energy storage is RMB 9 million, and the maintenance cost is RMB 3.17 million. After configuring the energy storage system, there are still some photovoltaic power stations whose actual output power is too small to meet the load demand, and the energy storage capacity has also been discharged to the lowest point. Therefore, the network loss cost is RMB 120100, the electricity purchase cost is RMB 1.421 million, and the total cost after adding the weight coefficient is RMB 1.2672 million. The economic costs and corresponding carbon emission data of each part are shown in Table 1.
In summary, particle swarm optimization can optimize the operating strategy of energy storage systems, reducing the cost of purchasing electricity and charging and discharging energy storage equipment. By dynamically adjusting the operating parameters of the energy storage system, energy storage equipment can be more effectively utilized, reducing the cost of system operation. Particle swarm optimization algorithm can help energy storage systems achieve maximum revenue in market operations. By optimizing the charging and discharging strategies of the energy storage system, the system can charge during high electricity price periods and discharge during low electricity price periods, thereby maximizing the system’s revenue (Wei et al., 2023). The particle swarm optimization algorithm can optimize the energy conversion efficiency and storage efficiency of energy storage systems, reducing losses during energy storage and release, thereby improving the overall energy utilization efficiency of the system.
The node voltage deviation and node voltage amplitude before and after the participation of the energy storage system are shown in Figure 6. While the overall voltage profile has shown improvement after integrating the hybrid collaborative energy storage system, it is important to note that there has been an increase in voltage deviation (Figure 6). This phenomenon can be attributed to the dynamic nature of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, which introduce variability into the grid. The integration of energy storage systems can sometimes amplify these fluctuations if not properly managed.
When not connected to the energy storage system, the voltage deviation meets the requirements. After connecting to the energy storage system, the voltage deviation meets the requirements and is reduced compared to the voltage deviation before connection. The voltage quality is improved, and the voltage fluctuation is also improved to a certain extent. Before the integration of the energy storage system, the voltage levels were subject to natural fluctuations due to varying load demands and generation patterns from renewable sources. Post-integration, the energy storage system attempts to stabilize these voltages by absorbing excess power during peak generation periods and releasing stored energy during high demand or low generation times. However, this process can lead to transient overshoots or undershoots in voltage levels, contributing to increased deviation.
The voltage amplitude before and after connecting to the energy storage system meets the requirements, and the voltage amplitude increases and the fluctuation decreases at each moment after connecting to the energy storage system.
This article considers the power grid losses caused by the integration of energy storage systems into active distribution networks and their impact on improving the voltage of distribution networks. It provides a theoretical basis for the capacity optimization configuration of two-stage hybrid energy storage systems in the future. An IEEE33 node system is used, for example, analysis, and the improved chaotic particle swarm optimization algorithm and PSO algorithm are used as model solving methods. Establish a double-layer optimization configuration model based on the impact of volatile energy on energy storage systems. On the basis of a multi-objective optimization model, the upper layer uses wind, light, and load daily prediction values to plan the distribution network and the hybrid energy storage system of lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors. The goal is to optimize the comprehensive cost, network loss, and node voltage deviation, and an improved multi-objective optimization particle swarm optimization is used to solve the initial capacity configuration value; The optimal model for adjusting the system frequency deviation index of energy storage system output based on wind power output in the lower layer, solving the correction value of the configuration capacity of supercapacitors, and introducing a quantum particle swarm with chaotic mechanism to further optimize the output of various units in the power grid.
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
MX: Conceptualization, Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. GL Guo ping: Methodology, Writing–review and editing. YH: Data curation, Software, Writing–review and editing.
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This work was Supported by the Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (Grant No. KJQN202303509).
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Keywords: particle swarm, hybrid energy storage, frequency modulation, charging and discharging, configuration
Citation: Xu M, Lei G and Huang Y (2025) Research on hybrid collaborative energy storage configuration in active distribution networks based on improved multi objective optimization. Front. Energy Res. 13:1442919. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2025.1442919
Received: 03 June 2024; Accepted: 30 January 2025;
Published: 31 March 2025.
Edited by:
Michael Carbajales-Dale, Clemson University, United StatesReviewed by:
Cong Zhang, Hunan University, ChinaCopyright © 2025 Xu, Lei and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Mingcan Xu, eHVtaW5nY2FuQ3FAb3V0bG9vay5jb20=
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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