Exploitation of demand side flexibility within renewable energy communities

The objective of the research activity is the development of innovative strategies for the integration of Distributed Generation from Non- Dispatchable Renewable Energy Sources (V-RES) into the Electricity Grid. Solutions providing decentralized and demand-side flexibility are analyzed, with a focus on the implementation of enabling technologies and devices, such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and IoT devices for loads and generators monitoring and control. The research activity focuses on residential and commercial situations, spanning from single behind-the-meter applications to more articulated microgrids, aiming at modular solutions. In both cases the main focus is on Renewable Energy self-consumption, being it within single prosumer premises or within enlarged microgrids through Peer-to-Peer energy exchanges. The main theoretical framework is the Virtual Power Plant concept, specifically declined as a Renewable Energy Community (REC), as defined by EU and then Italian legislation. The main field of application presented in this work regards the optimal scheduling of flexibility assets such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), through different algorithmic approaches. Furthermore, given the recent development of REC Italian legislation and related user-base wide enlargement, optimal clustering methods for consumers and prosumers into REC have been evaluated. Finally, controllable loads databases for demand-response simulations are explored.