An energy generator, including wind and solar system (wind-solar system), faces uncertainty caused by wind sources and solar irradiation. This uncertainty is caused by the alternative and variable nature of wind sources and solar irradiation. Still, also it is caused by the uncertainty of electricity price in the day-ahead market. So, contribution strategy in the market for a wind-solar generator should be such that these uncertainties are considered such that maximum revenue is obtained from energy commerce in the day-ahead market. Otherwise, ignoring these uncertainties allows reducing income due to ignoring the effect of the imbalance penalty. Considering these uncertainties properly might reduce the decrease in revenue of the wind-solar generator compared to independent operation of wind and solar systems. A power producer owning a wind system and a PV system, i.e., Wind-PV producer, faces augmented uncertainty established by the availability of the sources of energy, wind velocity and solar irradiance [1].
In [2], a new framework has been proposed in which demand response is used as an energy source for electricity retailers. In this method, demand response (DR) bases on step-reward have been introduced as a real-time source of the retailer. Also, the unpredictable behavior of the customers taking part in this DR based on the proposed reward has been modeled through the contribution coefficient based on the scenario. In [3], the purpose is to offer a model for optimizing a retailer's profit while providing a certain amount of load through buying from the wholesale market and the day-ahead market and exploiting demand response sources. Thus, the problem would be short-term scheduling for 24-hours in various study steps modeled as mixed-integer programming.
In [4], a general framework was suggested for using the energy retail market by considering an algorithm based on uncoordinated game theory along with high changes of distributed renewable generation sources and demand along with applying the management of demand in the micro-grids. The proposed structure was developed based on junction property through using a large number of renewable and storage resources. Based on this structure, consumers can play a role in the market and DR along with local utilization, DG management, electricity generators, and energy storage resources for suggesting price. In [5], a decision-making framework was proposed based on random scheduling for a retailer to 1. First, the selling price of the electricity was determined for the customers based on time-oriented rate. Then, a sample of different contracts was controlled for providing demands and supporting against risks in a short period of time.
In [6], a method has been proposed to determine a proper pricing strategy for a retailer that provides electricity for the consumer in the short-term electricity market. The purpose is to minimize the energy buying costs of commercial opportunities which provide the daily market. A genetic algorithm has been designed for optimizing parameters that define the best buying strategy. GA performs general explorations, and it is very effective in solving the problem.
In [9], protective tariffs, guaranteed network access, green generation certificate of awards, investment incentives, tax discounts, and low-level costs have been accepted as incentives for renewable generations in many countries.In [10], these resources have been used simultaneously, and simultaneous sale has been offered to reduce the effect of uncertainty and variability. In addition, this study has proposed a method to achieve this offer. The relationship and coordination between wind and solar energy have been studied in the Iberian Peninsula. The results suggest the simultaneous operation of these two systems to decrease the uncertainty of providing power. Studies have proposed various methods for wind energy sell strategy to handle uncertainty.
In [11], a strategy was proposed for suggesting the desired price for the customers for enhancing the profit of a retailer. Three steps are used based on load profile clustering techniques. In addition, this paper was suggested as a new acceptance function to increase the profit of the retailer. Further, a group of 300 customers of a 20 kV distribution network was assessed by using a new method. Based on the numerical results, the proposed plan can increase the profit of the retailer by offering different prices to different customers. Further, the number of the customers tending to buy electricity from the retailer increases by applying the proposed strategy. The price of a virtual plant in the market of energy and spinning reserve simultaneously was proposed in [12]. The suggested pricing strategy is an unbalanced model based on the role of plants given the certain price which regards security constraints and demand-generation balance. The proposed pricing strategy is an unbalanced model based on the contribution of plants based on a specific price that considers demand-generation balance and security constraints.
In [13], a bi-level scheduling approach has been proposed to solve a retailer's short-term decision-making. The retailer's objectives include defining contracts and offering the desired price to the consumers in a short-term horizon. The retailer has to handle the uncertainty of future power pool, customers' demands, and competitors' prices estimated in this paper through random scheduling. In addition, a retailer's risk is modeled based on the conditional value at risk (CVAR) of profit. Customer's response to retailer price and competition among retailers is considered in the proposed bi-level model. In reference [14, 15], by integrating the Demand response program in the short-term retailer decision, the retailer has tried, in addition to the short-run activities, to have an offer of optimal sales with the joint operation of the wind system and The solar system comes with an energy storage system. The uncertainty in the day-ahead market price and wind and solar energy products is one of the main characteristics of this proposal for sale. The created model enables the retailer to realize the potential of the demand response program and thus exploit high technical and economic benefits while also providing a better subscriber load while earning more money. In previous studies, the issue of the presence of retailers has not been addressed about the disparity of production. In reference [16, 17], a randomized planning model for separate active and reactive power planning in the distribution grid with the presence of solar and wind sources of energy in the day-ahead market is underway. The proposed reactive power of DGs is presented through the capability curve. To randomly model the problem, constructing scenarios or cases, and reducing their number, we used the probability density function of the prediction error of the output power of wind and solar power plants. The probability density function can be divided into arbitrary steps that each step has a certain probability of occurrence. In the suggested procedure, the cases are obtained by the roulette wheel mechanism and the Monte Carlo simulation based on probability density functions associated with random variables. To reduce the volume of computations, repeat scenarios and low probability scenarios are not considered. During this procedure, the random issue is broken down into many specific issues with different probabilities. The input data of the problem is obtained by Monte Carlo simulation, and then the probability of normalization of each scenario is obtained. Each of the scenarios is solved separately, which at the final step of the optimization procedure provides a set of effective solutions for all cases. Finally, the solutions obtained from the confirmed cases should be based on their probability to find out the expected result of the random issue, and the most effective solution is obtained. The reference [18] is to demand response in the short-term decision-making of distribution companies. A distribution company will have to decide on RTP sales prices, in addition to its current short-term activities. In [19], the results have shown that significant discrepancies have been created due to high marginal costs. Also, the increased use of DG resources in reducing network losses is assumed in the short run of a distribution company in [19]. Reference [20] has developed an energy acquisition model for the distribution company, with diversified sources, including buying from the network, an investor-owned DG, a distributor-owned DG, and limited options. The developed model [21] has expanded to include the dynamical behavior of distribution companies. The expanded model is a two-level optimization problem that includes issues that maximize both profits of distribution companies and social welfare. Reference [22] deals with energy management and backup of intelligent distribution networks by considering uncertainties in controllable loads, batteries, and wind turbines. Since the most important issues and problems in future power grids are the issues of power consumption uncertainty and renewable energy output, this paper deals with solving these uncertainties based on the two-point estimation model for the next day electricity market. The proposed method is designed to reduce the cost of energy and reserve smart grids with wind, diesel, and battery systems. Two load response programs have also been used to manage the demand side of the 33-bus network. Reference [23] discusses the optimal bidding strategy of retailers in the electricity grid using a time-based responsiveness program under the uncertainty study of electricity prices. In the restructured market, retailers try to keep their subscribers at a lower cost (providing through upstream transmission, self-consumption, or even retail production) for subscribers. Uncertainty in the price of electricity, given the nature of the electricity market, is impossible to deny. To this end, in this reference, we propose a robust linear integer optimization method for determining the price proposition in the electricity market by retailers based on bilateral contract and pool market.
Reference [24], optimizing the pumped-storage system, irrigation systems, and wind Farm units in micro-grid connected to the upstream grid reduces the costs. Also, the framework is equipped with two water storage systems for pumped storage units. Optimization of this micro-grid has been done with the upstream network for the day-ahead market. It applied a two-point estimation method to investigate uncertainties related to electricity market price and wind system.
In [25], a multi-stage stochastic model was proposed for a renewable distributed generation (RDG)-owning retailer to identify the trading strategies available in a competitive electricity market. The uncertainties related to, clients' consumption, power output of wind resources, and wholesale electricity market pricewere considered based on auto regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) approach. In the suggested method, three trading floors were regarded for the retailer to hedge against the uncertainties. During the first stage, the retailer participates in day-ahead market to supply the clients, while intraday market allows the retailer to change the schedule of its consumption/RDG production among clients in the second stage. Finally, real-time market was considered for reducing the uncertainty at power delivery time in the third stage due to unfavorable uncertainties, especially in renewable power production. Further, the cost function of wind resources was incorporated in the objective function by considering capital, operation, and maintenance (O&M) cost in order to increase the use of the mechanism.
In addition, [26] reported how the uncertainty obtained from generating distributed renewable in an active area influences the the cost-saving of the active district as well as average buying cost of utilities. Based on the result, the renewable uncertainty in an active district can raise the average buying cost of the utility serving the active district called local impact, and decrease the average buying cost of other utilities by involving in the same electricity market called global impact. Further, the local impact could result in increasing in the electricity retail price of active district, leading to a cost-saving less compared to the case without considering renewable uncertainty. The results indicated an economic motivation for utilities to enhance their load predicting accuracy for the purpose of preventing from economy loss and even obtaining economic benefit in the electricity market. Finally, the theoretical results were confirmed by conducting extensive studies based on real-world traces.
In another study, [27] reviewed the available retail electricity market, some new developments, and a comprehensive understanding of the next-generation retail electricity market by explaining its expected features needs, challenges, and accordingly future research topics. Further, a framework was presented for combining retail and wholesale electricity markets. The suggested and framework could pinpoint the significance of new business models and regulatory initiatives to create decentralized markets for DERs at the retail level, along with developments in technology and infrastructure, which are necessary for allowing the common use of DERs in effective ways. A vanadium redox flow battery type is considered in (a) to (c), and the bounds are imposed on the state of charge in (b) by assuming the total discharge of the battery, i.e. a null depth of discharge. However, the lower bound of (b) should be considered with the state of charge value of energy related to the depth of discharge if the type of used battery can impose a non-null depth of discharge.
In this paper, demand response is integrated into the short-term decision-making of the retailer so that the retailer has to offer optimal price of simultaneous operation of wind-solar system and energy storage system in addition to common short-term activities. Uncertainty not only affects the price of the day-ahead market but also affects wind and solar energy generation. The developed model enables the retailer to realize potentials of the DR program and exploit high technical and economic advantages and gain higher revenue while providing optimal load of the users. In previous studies, presence of the retailer and uncertainty of distributed generations were not considered. Previous studies, however, have not addressed the issue of retailer presence given the uncertainty of DGs.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 3 presents problem modeling that contains the objective function. The objective function is to maximize the expected profit of the retailer as well as constraints of the optimization problem, load constraint demand, response model, and sale price constraints. Section 4 describes simulation results that show the excellent performance of the proposed method.