Modeling and Contribution of Flexible Heating Systems for Transmission Grid Congestion Management

The large-scale integration of flexible heating systems in the European electricity market leads to a substantial increase of transportation requirements and consecutively grid congestions in the continental transmission grid. Novel model formulations for the grid-aware operation of both individual small-scale heat pumps and large-scale power-to-heat (PtH) units located in district heating networks are presented. The functionality of the models and the contribution of flexible heating systems for transmission grid congestion management is evaluated by running simulations for the target year 2035 for the German transmission grid. The findings show a decrease in annual conventional redispatch volumes and renewable energy sources (RES) curtailment resulting in cost savings of approximately 6 % through the integration of flexible heating systems in the grid congestion management scheme. The analysis suggests that especially large-scale PtH units in combination with thermal energy storages can contribute significantly to the alleviation of grid congestion and foster RES integration.