Flexibility enhancement of urban energy systems through coordinated space heating aggregation of numerous buildings

Due to the intrinsic flexibility of thermal energy in buildings, collective space heating can potentially offer significant benefits to urban energy systems. In this context, this study introduces a novel thermal energy normalisation approach to capturing the collective indoor temperature dynamics of clustered buildings. The feasible operational region of the normalised equivalent building thermal energy model is derived from individual building parameters and temperature requirements through the constraint-tightening technique. By employing the thermal energy normalisation approach, the aggregate flexibility of building populations is quantified and integrated into the energy management optimisation problem for the urban energy system operator. To associate the response of the normalised equivalent building model and individual building models, a deadbeat controller is designed to synchronise the energy levels and realise robust operation for buildings. Through a series of case studies, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed preheating coordination strategy can facilitate energy savings for energy system operation, cost-effectively perform congestion management to ensure no local network is overloaded, and ensure the satisfaction of indoor temperature requirements.