Unlocking the Regulation Potential of Aluminium Smelter Loads: A Novel Elasticity Model and Its Application in Source‐Load Cooperative Operation

As a typical energy‐intensive industrial load, the aluminium smelter load (ASL) is a premium flexible resource for mitigating peak shaving pressure caused by the anti‐peaking characteristic of wind power. However, the existing ASL model inadequately captures dynamic conversion between electrical and thermal energy, leading to underutilised adjustable potential when integrated into power systems. To address these issues, this paper first develops a novel ASL elasticity model that accurately characterises the time‐variant relationship between power regulation and temperature variation. The proposed model is then integrated into the power system to formulate a source‐load collaborative peak‐shaving strategy, which optimally coordinates ASL regulation with the dispatch of generation‐side resources. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated on a modified IEEE 30‐bus system. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed ASL elasticity model enables the power system to achieve the following improvements over conventional algebraic models: an increase in wind power accommodation of at least 193.82 MWh, a reduction in total costs of at least 21.21% and an enhancement in ASL's utilisable regulation capacity by 181.35%.