Information processing device and operation method of information processing device

Abstract

To more reliably avoid shortages in the amount of electricity to be purchased whose reservation is made to a power system.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a communication unit and a control unit that communicates via the communication unit. The control unit determines, based on a prediction of electricity consumption in a jurisdiction over a predetermined period including multiple time units, the amount of electricity to be purchased from a power system and the amount of electricity generated or discharged by distributed power sources, to cover the consumption. After sending information for reserving the amount to be purchased, if the consumption corresponding to a first time unit is predicted to be below a standard, the control unit increases the amount of electricity generated in the first time unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and an operation method of the information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] In communities managed by local governments, companies, etc., the charging and discharging of various power sources scattered within the community, the power supply by the power grid of the power utility (hereinafter simply referred to as the grid), and the power demand generated within the community are managed as a whole. The concept of a community EMS (Energy Management System) is being promoted. Various technologies for managing the power supply and demand within a community have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for formulating a plan to adjust at least one of the consumption time zone and the consumed power amount of an adjustable operation when the power demand may exceed a target value.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Means for more reliably avoiding a shortage of the reserved power purchase amount from the grid are required.

[0005] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and the like that can more reliably avoid a shortage of the reserved power purchase amount from the grid.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The information processing apparatus in the present disclosure includes a communication unit and a control unit that communicates with the communication unit. Based on the prediction of the power consumption in a ward during a predetermined period including a plurality of time units, the control unit covers the consumption, and determines the amount of power purchased from the grid and the amount of power sold to the grid, the amount of power generated by a distributed power source, the amount of power discharged, or the amount of power charged, for selling the surplus power generated to the grid. After sending information for reserving the purchase amount and the selling amount, if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is less than the reference, the amount of power generated and discharged in the first time unit is increased, or the amount of power charged is decreased. If it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is greater than the reference, the amount of power generated and discharged in the first time unit is decreased, or the amount of power charged is increased.

[0007] The operation method of the information processing apparatus in the present disclosure is Based on the prediction of the power consumption in a ward during a predetermined period including a plurality of time units, covering the consumption, and determining the amount of power purchased from the grid and the amount of power sold to the grid, the amount of power generated by a distributed power source, the amount of power discharged, or the amount of power charged, for selling the surplus power generated to the grid; After sending information for reserving the purchase amount and the selling amount, if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is less than the reference, increasing the amount of power generated and discharged in the first time unit, or decreasing the amount of power charged. If it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is greater than the reference, decreasing the amount of power generated and discharged in the first time unit, or increasing the amount of power charged; including.

Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the information processing apparatus and the like in the present disclosure, it is possible to more reliably avoid a shortage of the reserved power purchase amount from the grid.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described.

[0011] [Configuration Example of System] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a power management system in an embodiment. The power management system 1 is a system for assisting a community in efficiently purchasing power from a power company. A community is an administrative district managed by a local government, a company, etc., and is based on an arbitrary block or area. The power management system 1 includes one or more server devices 10 and energy resources 13 within the community that are communicably connected to each other via a network 11. The server device 10 corresponds to the "information processing device" of the present embodiment. The energy resources 13 include power loads 15 and distributed power sources 16 distributed within the community. The power consumed by the power load 15 is supplied from the grid 18 or by the distributed power source 16.

[0012] The server device 10 is a server computer that belongs to, for example, a cloud computing system or other computing systems and operates as a CEMS (Community EMS) server. The network 11 is, for example, the Internet, but includes an ad hoc network, a LAN, a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), or other networks or any combination thereof. The power load 15 is electrical products, lighting, air conditioning equipment, etc. installed in residences, commercial facilities, etc. The power load 15 may include vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles driven by battery power, and charging stations for such vehicles. The distributed power source 16 includes power generation devices using alternative energy such as sunlight and wind power, fuel cells, storage batteries, etc. The distributed power source 16 may include batteries of electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, etc., and a discharge station that discharges the power of the battery. The operations of the power load 15 and the distributed power source 16 are managed or controlled by a power conditioner, a smart meter, etc. configured to be connected to the network 11 and capable of information communication. Then, information regarding the operations of the power load 15 and the distributed power source 16 is transmitted and received between the power conditioner, the smart meter, etc. and the server device 10 via the network 11.

[0013] In this embodiment, the server device 10 includes a communication unit 101 and a control unit 103 that communicates with the communication unit 101. Based on the prediction of the power consumption in a jurisdiction during a predetermined period (for example, 24 hours, hereinafter referred to as the target period) including a plurality of time units (for example, 0.5 to 1 hour units), the control unit 103 ensures the consumption and sells the excess generated power to the grid 18. It determines the amount of power purchased from the grid 18, the amount of power sold to the grid 18, the amount of power generated, discharged, or charged by the distributed power source 16, and after sending information for reserving the purchase and sale amounts, if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is less than the reference, the power generation amount and discharge amount in the first time unit are increased, or the charge amount is decreased. If it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit will be greater than the reference, the power generation amount and discharge amount in the first time unit are decreased, or the charge amount is increased. When the community reserves the purchase of power from the grid 18 for the target period by a certain time (for example, one day) before the target period, depending on the contract with the power company, an additional fee may be imposed for changing the purchase amount after the reservation. In this regard, according to this embodiment, by storing the generated power by the distributed power source 16 in a time unit with relatively low consumption, it is possible to provide power for use in a time unit when the consumption is relatively large and there may be a shortage of power supply. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably avoid a shortage of the reserved power amount in the grid 18.

[0014] [Configuration Example of Server Device] The server device 10 includes a communication unit 101, a storage unit 102, and a control unit 103. The server device 10 is, for example, a single computer. Alternatively, the server device 10 may be composed of two or more computers that are connected for information communication and operate in cooperation. In that case, each part is appropriately arranged in two or more computers.

[0015] The communication unit 101 includes one or more communication interfaces. The communication interface is, for example, a LAN interface. The communication unit 101 receives information used for the operation of the server device 10 and transmits information obtained by the operation of the server device 10. The server device 10 is connected to the network 11 by the communication unit 101 and performs information communication with the vehicle 12 or the charge and discharge device 14 via the network 11.

[0016] The storage unit 102 includes, for example, one or more semiconductor memories that function as a main memory device, an auxiliary memory device, or a cache memory, one or more magnetic memories, one or more optical memories, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The RAM is, for example, an SRAM (Static RAM) or a DRAM (Dynamic RAM). The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM). The storage unit 102 stores information used for the operation of the server device 10 and information obtained by the operation of the server device 10.

[0017] The control unit 103 includes one or more processors, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination of these. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated processor such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) specialized for specific processing. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc. The control unit 103 executes information processing related to the operation of the server device 10 while controlling each part of the server device 10.

[0018] The functions of the server device 10 are realized by executing a control program with a processor included in the control unit 103. The control program is a program for causing a computer to execute the processing of the steps included in the operation of the server device 10, thereby causing the computer to realize the functions corresponding to the processing of those steps. That is, the control program is a program for causing a computer to function as the server device 10. Also, some or all of the functions of the server device 10 may be realized by a dedicated circuit included in the control unit 103. Further, the control program may be stored in a non-transitory recording and storage medium readable by the server device 10, and the server device 10 may read it from the medium.

[0019] [Operation Example of Server Device] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation procedure of the server device 10. Each step shown in FIG. 2 is executed by the control unit 103. The procedure in FIG. 2 is executed, for example, at an arbitrary time before the start of the power purchase market for each day, at an arbitrary cycle, for example, a 30-minute cycle.

[0020] In step S20, the control unit 103 predicts the power consumption of the community during the target period. The target period is, for example, 24 hours from 0:00 to 24:00 two days after the current date. The control unit 103 acquires power information from the energy resource 13 and predicts the power consumption based on the power information. The power information is, for example, the history of the power consumption by the power load 15 and the power supply amount by the distributed power source 16 in the most recent one day to several days. The power consumption is the amount of power supplied from the grid 18 and consumed by the power load 15. Also, the power supply amount is the amount of power generated by the power generation device included in the distributed power source 16 or discharged from the storage battery and supplied to the energy resource 13. The control unit 103 predicts the power consumption by using, for example, the average over several days or the time-weighted average of the power consumption, and by an arbitrary algorithm.

[0021] In step S21, the control unit 103 checks whether a power supply plan has been created. The created power supply plan is stored in the storage unit 102. If it has been created (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S22. If it has not been created (No), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S29 to create a power supply plan. For example, based on the power information obtained from the energy resource 13, the control unit 103 determines the purchase amount, power generation amount, discharge amount, or charge amount for the target period by any algorithm. The power supply plan has values of power consumption, power purchase amount, power generation amount, discharge amount, or charge amount (all in units of, for example, kWh) for each hourly time unit "00:00 - 01:00", "01:00 - 02:00", "02:00 - 03:00", ··· "21:00 - 22:00", "22:00 - 23:00", "23:00 - 24:00" as shown in the table 30 of FIG. 3, for example. The control unit 103 determines the power purchase amount, power selling amount, power generation amount, or charge / discharge amount that minimizes the following objective function F on the condition that the sum of the power purchase amount, power generation amount, and discharge amount exceeds the predicted power consumption for each time unit. F = KPI×α + IBC×β KPI is the cost obtained by offsetting the revenue from selling surplus power against the costs associated with power generation and charge / discharge. IBC is the cost associated with the imbalance of additional power purchases. α and β are coefficients (α > β and α + β = 1)

[0022] In step S22, the control unit 103 determines whether there is a power surplus time in the power supply plan. The power surplus time is a time unit during which the power consumption is less than an arbitrary standard. The arbitrary standard is, for example, an amount of electric power such that the consumption can be covered without adding the discharge amount of the storage battery that was scheduled to discharge in the time unit. Specifically, the standard is an arbitrary value such as 80% - 90% of the total of the power purchase amount and the generated power amount obtained by subtracting the discharge amount of the storage battery from the power supplied in the time unit. Note that the time unit during which the power consumption is equal to or greater than the standard corresponds to the power shortage time. If there is a power surplus time (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S23. If there is no power surplus time (No), the control unit 103 skips step S23 and proceeds to step S24.

[0023] In step S23, the control unit 103 increases the generated power amount during the power surplus time. The increase width can be arbitrarily set. For example, the increase width is an arbitrary value such as 80% - 90% of the smaller of the amount of electric power that the rechargeable storage battery included in the distributed power source 16 can be charged with and the amount of electric power that the power generation facility can additionally generate. The rechargeable storage battery is a storage battery in an idling state or a storage battery that was scheduled to discharge in that unit time. Also, the control unit 103 can, for example, obtain information on the sunshine duration during the power surplus time in the target period from a server that provides weather information when deriving the generated power amount by the solar power generation facility, and derive the generated power amount according to the sunshine duration. Note that when the control unit 103 identifies a plurality of power surplus times, it may increase the generated power amount for each power surplus time, or it may increase the generated power amount in any unit time, for example, the unit time when the predicted consumption is the smallest.

[0024] In step S24, the control unit 103 determines the power supply plan. The control unit 103 stores the determined power supply plan in the storage unit 102.

[0025] In step S25, the control unit 103 checks whether it is before the power purchase reservation. If it is before the reservation (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S26. If it is not before the reservation (No), that is, if it has already been reserved, the control unit 103 proceeds to step S28.

[0026] In step S26, the control unit 103 checks whether the reservation time for the power purchase reservation has arrived. The reservation time is, for example, noon two days before the target period. The control unit 103 may determine that the reservation time has arrived on the condition that the current time is included in an arbitrary time (for example, one hour) before the reservation time. If the reservation time has arrived (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S27. If the reservation time has not arrived (No), the control unit 103 ends this process.

[0027] In step S27, the control unit 103 sends reservation information for reserving the power purchase amount included in the power supply plan. The control unit 103 sends the reservation information to, for example, the server of the power company. By doing so, the power purchase reservation for the target period is made.

[0028] In step S28, the control unit 103 sends an instruction for executing the power supply plan. Then, the control unit 103 ends the procedure in FIG. 2. The instruction for executing the power supply plan includes information specifying the power purchase amount and the selling amount, the power generation amount or the charge / discharge amount per time unit, and the distributed power sources 16 that should perform power generation and charge / discharge respectively. Further, such an instruction includes information specifying the power generation amount or the charge amount during the power surplus time, and the distributed power sources 16 that perform power generation and charging respectively. By the distributed power sources 16 executing power generation, discharging, and charging in response to such an instruction, surplus power can be stored in the storage battery during the power surplus time, and it becomes possible to prepare for power shortages during the power shortage time. Therefore, it becomes possible to more surely avoid a shortage of the reserved power amount in the grid 18.

[0029] In the above, the embodiments have been described based on the drawings and examples. However, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means, each step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and it is possible to combine or divide a plurality of means, steps, etc. into one or split them up.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0030] 1 Power management system 10 Server device 11 Network 13 Energy resource 15 Power load 16 Distributed power source 18 Grid 101 Communication unit 102 Storage unit 103 Control unit

Claims

1. A communication unit, and a control unit that communicates with the communication unit, wherein the control unit, based on a prediction of the power consumption in a jurisdiction over a predetermined period including a plurality of time units, covers the consumption, and purchases power from the grid and sells power to the grid, the power generation amount, discharge amount, or charge amount by a distributed power source for selling surplus power generated to the grid, determines the purchase amount of power from the grid, the selling amount of power to the grid, the power generation amount, discharge amount, or charge amount, and after sending information for reserving the purchase amount and the selling amount, if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is less than a reference, increases the power generation amount and discharge amount, or decreases the charge amount in the first time unit, and if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is greater than the reference, decreases the power generation amount and discharge amount, or increases the charge amount in the first time unit. An information processing apparatus.

2. In claim 1, the control unit sends an instruction to increase or decrease the power generation amount, discharge amount, and the instruction to cause the distributed power source to generate, discharge, and charge the discharge amount to the distributed power source. An information processing apparatus.

3. In claim 1, the control unit sends an instruction to store the power generation amount corresponding to the first time unit in a storage battery. An information processing apparatus.

4. In claim 1, the control unit uses the cost of power generation, the cost of the purchase amount, and the profit from the selling amount as variables, and determines the power generation amount, discharge amount, charge amount, the purchase amount, or the selling amount so as to minimize a function for calculating the total cost. An information processing apparatus.

5. A method of operating an information processing apparatus, comprising: determining, based on a prediction of the power consumption in a jurisdiction over a predetermined period including a plurality of time units, the purchase amount of power from the grid, the selling amount of power to the grid, the power generation amount, discharge amount, or charge amount by a distributed power source for covering the consumption and selling surplus power generated to the grid; and after sending information for reserving the purchase amount and the selling amount, if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is less than a reference, increasing the power generation amount and discharge amount, or decreasing the charge amount in the first time unit, and if it is predicted that the consumption corresponding to the first time unit is greater than the reference, decreasing the power generation amount and discharge amount, or increasing the charge amount in the first time unit. A method of operation including the above steps. ​

Images