Open Access

ARTICLE

Optimal Dispatch of Urban Distribution Networks Considering Virtual Power Plant Coordination under Extreme Scenarios

Yong Li, Yuxuan Chen^*, Jiahui He, Guowei He, Chenxi Dai, Jingjing Tong, Wenting Lei

State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company, Tianfu New Area Power Supply Branch, Chengdu, 610200, China

* Corresponding Author: Yuxuan Chen. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Construction and Control Technologies of Renewable Power Systems Based on Grid-Forming Energy Storage)

Energy Engineering 2026, 123(1), . https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2025.069257

Received 18 June 2025; Accepted 19 August 2025; Issue published 27 December 2025

Abstract

Ensuring reliable power supply in urban distribution networks is a complex and critical task. To address the increased demand during extreme scenarios, this paper proposes an optimal dispatch strategy that considers the coordination with virtual power plants (VPPs). The proposed strategy improves system flexibility and responsiveness by optimizing the power adjustment of flexible resources. In the proposed strategy, the Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) is firstly employed to determine the adjustable range of aggregated power within the VPP, facilitating an assessment of its potential contribution to power supply support. Then, an optimal dispatch model based on a leader-follower game is developed to maximize the benefits of the VPP and flexible resources while guaranteeing the power balance at the same time. To solve the proposed optimal dispatch model efficiently, the constraints of the problem are reformulated and resolved using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) optimality conditions and linear programming duality theorem. The effectiveness of the strategy is illustrated through a detailed case study.

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