Virtual Power Plant Scheduling in Agricultural Microgrids Through the Control of Distributed Energy Resources and Greenhouse Loads

To unlock the regulation potential of agricultural loads and enhance the ecofriendly and cost- efficient operation of microgrids, this article proposes a virtual power plant (VPP) scheduling model in alignment with the VPP policy implemented in Shandong Province, China. The proposed model coordinates the control of distributed energy resources (DERs) and greenhouse loads while considering the operational constraints of agricultural production and electricity consumption on the demand side, as well as the generation limitations of DERs. By fully exploiting the flexibility of greenhouse supplemental lighting systems, the proposed model enables an integrated optimization of load demand and energy supply, thereby achieving cost-effective peak-shaving strategies. Compared with the conventional agricultural microgrid operation strategies, the proposed VPP scheduling strategy exhibits superior economic performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves a peak-shaving capacity of 4.28 MW over a 3-h period and yields an additional daily revenue of CNY 818 for the agricultural microgrid, highlighting its potential to facilitate the expansion of VPP applications from urban to rural settings.