Concluding remarks - Modelling Distributed Energy Resources in Energy Service Networks - page 168

Demand response services from DER technologies : Although this work illus-
trated dispatch patterns to curtail peak demand in energy service networks,
further work needs to address both technical issues ( e.g. dynamic phenomena)
and policies ( e.g. value on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services) needed to implement
ancillary services from DER technologies. In other words, the aggregated capac-
ity from PHEVs and other distributed generation units should have the incentive
to perform many of the same fast demand response services for the grid that are
provided by power plants today, thus contributing to the enhancement of power
delivery.

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Expand the model to address a greater scope of issues : The proposed framework
has much flexibility, thus allowing the user to divert into other areas concerning
energy sector stakeholders. According to priorities, the modelling tool can be
expanded to cover and evaluate other issues related to interdependency between
systems. Examples of subjects that can potentially be engaged include:
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Environmental : The analysis conducted in this work does not evaluate the
greenhouse gas emission impacts DER devices bring to urban environments.
Hence, a natural step this research can take would address this issue. For this,
it is required to model diverse fuel mixes and calculate the emissions they
generate in supplying energy to the consumers. Linking the emissions of a
varied fuel mix ( i.e. having a prominent amount of renewable intermittent
sources) supplying the load demands in urban areas will create the conditions
to assess the optimal operation of DERs ( e.g. charging of PHEVs) at moments
when low carbon energy is being generated.

- Energy market interactions : Further work concerning the TCOPF program

should deal with the examination of optimal power flow and marginal cost
interactions between energy service networks. Scenarios should simulate
many variations that can occur within the context of energy spot market prices
( e.g. due to seasonal changes), having as an objective to obtain insights into
load-control strategies embedded technologies could offer in real time.
Because as this work has shown, the optimal economic efficiencies of future
energy systems should result when they are operated focusing on reducing
spot market energy costs.

- Modelling additional infrastructures and DER technologies : The modelling

of energy systems described in this work can be complemented by consider-
ing other key infrastructures, such as water and heat networks. The inclusion
of infrastructures such as these would provide an even wider holistic view
of how cities process energy, leading to identify additional interdependency
issues, for example quantifying the amount of power needed in the deliv-
ery of water to customers. Furthermore, within an academic context, the
modelling of these infrastructures should highlight the striking similarities
shared with electrical and natural gas networks. Likewise, by adding other
embedded technologies into the model, such as photovoltaic and heat pump
sources, additional flexibility can be given to power provision. As a conse-
quence, this flexibility enriches the spectrum of solutions to optimally supply
urban energy systems, therefore providing valuable alternative management
strategies to stakeholders.