Modeling and Control of Electric Loads for Ancillary Services and Decarbonization

PASSCODE: 20241203

Towards decarbonizing power systems and achieving sustainability goals, traditional power plants, like coal-fired plants, are being replaced with renewable generation alternatives. Historically, synchronous generators of traditional power plants provided much of the essential load balancing services required to match scheduled generation and demand, ensuring power system reliability. Hence, with the sunsetting of traditional generation, new sources of load balancing flexibility are needed. Furthermore, the inherent intermittent and variable nature of renewable generation typically requires an increase in the load balancing services needed. Aggregations of electric loads, such as thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs), hold substantial potential to offer this flexibility, given their thermal inertia and ubiquity.

This dissertation develops models and control algorithms for leveraging the flexibility of TCL resources and practically demonstrates the ancillary service and decarbonization potential of these loads. Building on established hierarchical load control methods, a novel device-driven approach for coordinating aggregations of TCLs is created. The developed control design was tested and validated via simulations and hardware-in-the-loop experiments. Also, communication architectures enabling cyber-physical demonstrations of load control for frequency regulation were developed. This dissertation identifies and overcomes challenges involving electric load aggregations, showing they can indeed provide the additional flexibility required in modern power systems.

Co-Chairs: Professors Johanna Mathieu & Ian Hiskens