Distribution system congestion management through market mechanism

Nowadays, the electricity industry has experienced essential changes compared to the past. The idea of distributed generations (DGs) in distribution networks replacing the bulk power plants traditionally connected to the high voltage levels is one of those changes. Irrespective of the positive aspects of the mentioned change, congestion is the problem that is increasingly occurring in distribution systems due to an upward trend in DGs’ penetration in distribution net-works. Methods to solve the congestion in distribution networks has received the attention of researchers and those who are working in the distribution network domain recently. The idea of the thesis is to solve the congestion in distribution networks through market mechanisms. To do so, a simulation environment is designed and implemented in order to ena-ble us to analyze and understand the features of various scenarios associated with congestion management with or without using market mechanisms. By using the simulation environment, five different scenarios are investigated, and the results show the congestion relief of the distri-bution network by linking the flexibility buyers (distribution system operators (DSOs)) to flexibil-ity providers (aggregators) through the local flexibility market (LFM) platform. Timing and fre-quency of operation are proposed for LFM in the thesis. Besides, the benefits of LFM for DSOs are investigated, and the impact of inaccuracy in predictive optimal power flow (OPF) on the real-time operation of the distribution system is studied as well