| Abstract [eng] |
Lithuania, as well as the entire European Union, aims to move towards sustainable and climate-neutral energy. This lead in particular to the promotion of more renewable energy sources, electric cars or other energy sources. Various participants in the electricity market, from consumers to network operators, are involved in such transformation. In order to integrate renewable energy sources into electricity grid infrastructure it needs to be upgraded as has been built and has been in use for long years. This will undoubtedly require significant investment. But there are alternative solutions. In order to achieve the same goals, it is possible to introduce various flexibility services in the electricity market using advanced technologies, which would allow to extend the service life of the existing infrastructure. This is especially related to consumers. They may be actively involved in the energy system and markets, agreeing to change their consumption habits, thus contributing to a more sustainable future. The electricity market is transforming therefore new roles in electricity market originate. One of it is the independent aggregator who takes a position between the user and the network operator by concentrating the loads of different users and managing their demand, thus being able to offer various services. Aggregators are already operating in most European Union countries. There, they usually provide services related to balancing or providing reserve power. In addition to these services, the role as an aggregator could trade the aggregated load of consumers on the power trade market. This can contribute to more competitive pricing, greater consumer engagement, less need for balancing etc. This paper examines the business model of a aggregator trading at the day before market. The aggregator acts as a virtual producer - it sells the quantity that will not be used by consumers on the market at the agreed time. Only the participation of household consumers in demand management is examined. Such model has a number of limitations, as the amount of load a aggregator can offer to the exchange also depends on the user's habits and possibilities and on the limitations of the applied demand management programs. The study uses historical hourly household consumer data of 2019 year, the NordPool exchange day ahead price and a two-tier constraint model to determine the potential profitability of the pool and its dependence on the chosen remuneration method, market price and consumer participation in the programs. The result of the analysis shows that the activities of the aggregator from the trading day ahead can be profitable and the profitability reaches about 5 percent. provided that activities are optimally planned and users minimize loads according to an agreed plan. Profitability is negative when a concentrator has to purchase balancing energy because its customers do not participate in the demand management program at the agreed time. The indicators of the aggregator were calculated during the research: costs, income, imbalance costs, profit, profitability. |
