Optimal Operation of a Micro Water-Energy Nexus

Within the emerging concepts of smart cities and smart buildings, several critical services like electricity and water supply are supposed to be integrated by adopting and implementing the cutting-edge technologies in control, communication and management/optimization. In such a smart environment, several physical systems could be connected and operated jointly to achieve co-optimized decisions. Water as well as electricity are certainly two lifeline networks and essential resources in today’s daily life. From the perspective of a power grid, water systems–including water distribution and treatment–consume a significant amount of electricity power; so water systems can be considered as a critical infrastructure, the operation of which is dependent on and influencing the power grid operation. Additionally, if judiciously integrated, some special loads in water systems, such as irrigation, are controllable and could provide extra flexibility for the power grid operation. This thesis mainly focuses on the operation integration of both power and water systems. In the power system side, the alternation current (AC) power distribution systems integrated with renewable energy resources and battery storage systems is introduced. In the water system side, the pipe network with its hydraulic characteristics is applied. The two systems are connected and co-operated as one interdependent model, so called micro-nexus. Accordingly, a co-optimization framework is introduced and tested. Considering the individual and interdependent characteristics of both power and water systems, the proposed model is a mixed-integer non-linear programming formulation which runs in the GAMS optimization environment and is tested on the modified IEEE 13-bus test system. The results show the potential of co-operating the two systems for improving the flexibility and enhancing the security of both systems