Flexible and Cost Efficient Power Consumption using Economic MPC : A Supermarket Refrigeration Benchmark
Abstract
Supermarket refrigeration consumes substantial amounts of energy. However due to the thermal capacity in the refrigerated goods parts of the delivered cooling capacity can be shifted in time without deteriorating the food quality. In this paper we introduce a novel economic optimizing MPC scheme that reduces operation costs by utilizing the thermal storage capabilities. In the study we specifically address advantages coming from daily variations in outdoor temperature and electricity prices but other aims such as peak load reduction are also considered. An important contribution of this paper is also the formulation of a new cost function for our proposed power management. Hereby the refrigeration system is enabled to contribute with ancillary services to the balancing power market. Since significant amounts of regulating power is needed for a higher penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind turbines this feature is in high demand in a future intelligent power grid (Smart Grid). Our perspective is seen from the refrigeration system but as it is demonstrated the involvement in the balancing market can be economically beneficial for the system itself while delivering crucial services to the Smart Grid. We simulate the system using models validated against data from real supermarkets as well as weather data and spot and regulating power prices from the Nordic power market.
Info
Conference Paper, 2011
UN SDG Classification
DK Main Research Area
Science/Technology
