Virtual Power Plant Solution for Future Smart Energy Communities

This book provides a general overview of virtual power plants (VPP) as a key technology in future energy communities and active distribution and transmission networks for managing distributed energy resources, providing local and global services, and facilitating market participation of small-scale managing distributed energy resources and prosumers. The book also aims at describing some practical solutions, business models, and novel architectures for the implementation of VPPs in the real world.

Each chapter of the book begins with the fundamental structure of the problem required for a rudimentary understanding of the methods described. It provides a clear picture for practical implementation of VPP through novel technologies such as blockchain, digital twin, and distributed ledger technology.

The book will help the electrical and power engineers, undergraduate, graduate students, research scholars, and utility engineers to understand the emerging solutions regarding the VPP concept lucidly.

Ehsan Heydarian-Forushani is a Research Fellow to Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. His main research interests include power system flexibility, active distribution networks, renewables integration, demand response, smart grids, and electricity market.

Hassan Haes Alhelou is currently with the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. His major research interests are Power systems, Power system dynamics, Power system operation, control, Dynamic state estimation, Frequency control, Smart grids, Micro-grids, Demand response, and Load shedding.

Seifeddine Benelghali is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. His current research interests include smart grids; virtual power plant; demand response; machine learning; renewable energy integration; energy management systems; electric machines and drives.