Power management device

Abstract

To efficiently suppress imbalance with a reference value while appropriately suppressing use of an adjustment system.SOLUTION: A total amount of power (reference value) scheduled to be supplied to a plurality of consumers for each frame of each time period is identified (S112); in order to receive an amount of power of the reference value, the reference value is previously transmitted to a supplier before a time period corresponding to the reference value (S113); and in each frame, an adjustment system is controlled so that an imbalance charge paid by a provider to the supplier becomes small for a difference (the amount of imbalance) in an actual value which is a total amount of power used by the plurality of consumers with respect to the reference value, within a range of an amount that can be increased and decreased (S132). When the unit price of a scheduled imbalance charge is higher / the expected imbalance quantity is larger in the frame corresponding to the reference value, a value obtained by adding an amount of scheduled power usage by the adjustment system which is larger than that in a case where the unit price is lower / smaller to the amount of scheduled power usage by the consumer is identified as the reference value (S112).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a power management device, and more particularly to a power management device for an operator who supplies power received from a power supplier to a plurality of consumers.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, self-delivery has been carried out. Self-delivery is a power transmission service provided by a general power transmission and distribution operator when a company transmits power generated in its own factory or the like to its own business office at a distant location using the power transmission and distribution network of the general power transmission and distribution operator. In self-delivery, the "planned value simultaneous same quantity" rule is applied, and there are obligations of the same quantity at the same time for both power generation and demand. It is necessary to match the pre-established power generation plan or demand plan with the actual power generation performance or demand performance in actual supply every 30 minutes. If the plan and the actual performance do not match, it is necessary to pay an "imbalance fee" according to the amount (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Similarly, in order for a retail electricity operator to supply to consumers, regarding the power supplied from a power generation operator and a general power transmission and distribution operator to the retail electricity operator, it is also necessary to match the reference value of the amount of power in the supply plan received by the retail electricity operator every 30-minute period with the actual value. It is necessary to pay an imbalance fee to the general power transmission and distribution operator according to the imbalance amount, which is the difference between this reference value and the actual value.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] To account for imbalance charges and prevent a state of imbalance where the baseline value and actual value do not match, retail electricity providers may consider having adjustment systems (such as energy resources like power generation facilities, energy storage facilities, and demand facilities) to adjust the supply and demand of electricity. However, to create a large margin, many adjustment systems must be in place.

[0006] This disclosure is made to solve the problems described above, and its purpose is to provide a power management device that can suppress imbalances with reference values ​​while appropriately limiting the use of adjustment systems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The power management device relating to this disclosure is a power management device for a business operator that supplies electricity received from a power supplier to multiple consumers, and is capable of controlling a power supply and demand adjustment system, and comprises a memory for storing a predetermined program and a processor for executing the predetermined program. The processor, by executing the predetermined program, identifies a reference value, which is the total amount of electricity planned to be supplied to multiple consumers for each time slot, and communicates the identified reference value to the supplier in advance before the time slot corresponding to the reference value begins, in order to receive the amount of electricity of the reference value from the supplier. In each time slot, the adjustment system is controlled so that the imbalance charge paid by the business operator to the supplier is small for the imbalance amount, which is the difference between the reference value and the actual value, which is the total amount of electricity used by multiple consumers. The amount that can be increased is the amount of electricity that can be added to the actual value by being used by the adjustment system, and the amount that can be decreased is the amount of electricity that can be subtracted from the actual value by reducing the use by the adjustment system or by supplying electricity from the adjustment system to multiple consumers. The processor, by executing a predetermined program, identifies a reference value as the amount of electricity that the adjustment system is expected to use, added to the amount of electricity that the consumer is expected to use, when determining the reference value, compared to when the unit price of the planned imbalance charge for the corresponding slot is high or low, or compared to when the expected imbalance amount is large or small.

[0008] The amount of electricity intended to be used by consumers, and the amount of electricity intended to be used by the adjustment system, which is added to the amount of electricity intended to be used by consumers to be included in the baseline value, may be identified using a trained model generated by machine learning such as deep learning.

[0009] With this configuration, if the imbalance charge unit price and the amount of imbalance are high for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance can be increased by adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer, making it less likely for an imbalance with the reference value to occur in that time slot. On the other hand, if the imbalance charge unit price and the amount of imbalance are low for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance by the adjustment system can be preserved in that time slot by not adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer. As a result, it is possible to provide a power management device that can efficiently suppress imbalance with the reference value while appropriately suppressing the use of the adjustment system.

[0010] The processor may, by executing a predetermined program, determine the reference value when the power unit price of the corresponding shard is low, or when it is high, by adding the amount of power that the adjustment system is expected to use to the amount of power that the consumer is expected to use.

[0011] With this configuration, if the electricity price per unit for the timeframe corresponding to the reference value is low, even if the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system is added to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer, the electricity charges for the added amount of electricity in that timeframe can be kept low. On the other hand, if the electricity price per unit for the timeframe corresponding to the reference value is high, by not adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer, the electricity charges for the added amount of electricity in that timeframe can be kept low. As a result, the imbalance with the reference value can be efficiently suppressed while appropriately controlling the use of the adjustment system.

[0012] The adjustment system may consist of a group of electric vehicles. With such a configuration, the adjustment system can be easily constructed without using a large-scale adjustment system. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] This disclosure makes it possible to provide a power management device that can efficiently suppress imbalances with reference values ​​while appropriately limiting the use of adjustment systems. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the power management system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows the flow of reference value-related processing performed by the retail electricity provider server in this embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows the change over time in the standard deviation of the imbalance unit price and the imbalance amount. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates the case where a baseline value is determined without considering the expected level of the imbalance unit price or the magnitude of the predicted imbalance amount. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates how to determine a baseline value by considering the expected level of the imbalance unit price and the magnitude of the predicted imbalance amount. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates the effects of specifying a reference value as in this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the power management system 1 according to this embodiment. Referring to Figure 1, thick solid lines with arrows indicate the flow of electricity, and thin solid and dashed lines with arrows indicate the flow of data. In the power management system 1, electricity generated by a power generator 60 is transmitted by a transmission and distribution company 50 to customers 20 who are retail customers of a retail electricity provider 10 (for example, a regional power company or a new power company), based on an agreement that follows the bidding results at the electricity exchange 40 (for example, the Japan Electric Power Exchange).

[0016] The power generation company 60 has power generation facilities 610 that generate electricity (for example, nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, solar power plants, wind power plants, geothermal power plants, etc.) and a power generation company server 600 that manages the power generation business. The power transmission and distribution company 50 has power transmission and distribution facilities 510 that transmit and distribute electricity and a power transmission and distribution company server 500 that manages the power transmission and distribution business. The power generation facilities 610 and the power transmission and distribution facilities 510 constitute a power grid. The electricity exchange 40 has an electricity exchange server 400 that manages electricity trading. The retail electricity company 10 has a retail electricity company server 100 that manages the retail electricity business.

[0017] The consumer 20 has a DSR 210 which includes at least one of the following energy resources connected below the point of power reception: demand equipment (e.g., electrical appliances, machinery, electric vehicles that can be charged or discharged), energy storage equipment (e.g., stationary batteries, electric vehicles that can be charged or discharged), and power generation equipment (e.g., solar power generation equipment, wind power generation equipment), and a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) 200 which manages the DSR 210. The aggregator 30 has an aggregator server 300 which controls and manages the DER (Distributed Energy Resources) 310 which includes at least one of the DSR or power generation equipment or energy storage equipment that are directly connected to the power grid.

[0018] The retail electricity business operator server 100 includes a processor 110, a memory 120, an input unit 130, an output unit 140, an auxiliary storage device 160, and a communication unit 190. The memory 120 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, etc., and stores software such as programs executed on the retail electricity business operator server 100 and data to be processed. The auxiliary storage device 160 includes an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), a removable media drive, etc., assists the memory 120, stores a large amount of data compared to the memory 120, and stores software such as programs executed on the retail electricity business operator server 100 and data to be processed. The input unit 130 includes input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and transmits information input from the input device by the user to the processor 110. The output unit 140 includes output devices such as a display and a speaker, and outputs the information received from the processor 110 to the output device. The communication unit 190 is a device capable of communicating with an external device such as another server via a communication network 900 such as the Internet, and transmits and receives predetermined information to and from the external device. The processor 110 processes data from the input unit 130 or the communication unit 190 or data stored in the memory 120 or the auxiliary storage device 160 according to the program stored in the memory 120 or the auxiliary storage device 160, and outputs it to the output unit 140 or the communication unit 190, or stores it in the memory 120 or the auxiliary storage device 160.

[0019] The aggregator server 300, the power exchange server 400, the power transmission and distribution business operator server, and the power generation business operator server 600 have the same configuration as the above-described retail electricity business operator server 100.

[0020] The HEMS 200 can communicate with external devices such as the aggregator server 300 or the power transmission and distribution utility server 500 via the communication network 900, control the power supply and demand at the DSR 210, and obtain the measured power amount from a smart meter that measures the power amount exchanged between the DSR 210 and the power grid.

[0021] Note that the HEMS 200 may have the function of a smart meter. The aggregator server 300 may directly or indirectly control or manage the DSR 210. The retail electricity provider server 100 may directly or indirectly control or manage the DER 310 or the DSR 210.

[0022] In such a power management system 1, in order for the retail electricity provider 10 to supply to the customer 20, for the power supplied from the power generation company 60 and the power transmission and distribution utility 50 to the retail electricity provider 10, it is necessary to match the reference value of the planned power amount that the retail electricity provider 10 receives through bidding to the power trading exchange 40 every 30 minutes, which divides 1 day = 24 hours into 48 segments, with the actual value of the power actually supplied from the power transmission and distribution utility 50 to the retail electricity provider 10. It is necessary to pay the imbalance fee to the power transmission and distribution utility 50 according to the imbalance amount, which is the difference between this reference value and the actual value.

[0023] Considering the imbalance fee, in order to create a buffer to avoid an imbalance state where the reference value and the actual value do not match, it is conceivable that the retail electricity provider 10 has an adjustment system (such as the DSR 210 or DER 310 of power generation facilities, energy storage facilities, demand facilities, etc.) for adjusting the power supply and demand. However, in order to create a large buffer, many adjustment systems must be equipped.

[0024] Therefore, the processor 110 of the retail electricity provider server 100 identifies a reference value, which is the total amount of electricity planned to be supplied to multiple customers 20 for each time slot. In order to receive the identified reference value of electricity from the transmission and distribution company 50, the processor 110 transmits the reference value to the transmission and distribution company 50 in advance before the time slot corresponding to the reference value begins. In each time slot, the processor 110 controls the DER310 or DSR210 within the range of the increase and decrease amounts so that the imbalance charge that the retail electricity provider 10 pays to the transmission and distribution company 50 for the imbalance amount, which is the difference between the reference value and the actual value, which is the total amount of electricity used by multiple customers 20. The increase amount is the amount of electricity that can be added to the actual value by being used by the DER310 or DSR210, and the decrease amount is the amount of electricity that can be subtracted from the actual value by reducing the use by the DER310 or DSR210 or by supplying the DER310 or DSR210 to multiple customers 20. In identifying the reference value, the processor 110 identifies the reference value as the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210, plus the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer 20, compared to when the unit price of the planned imbalance charge for the corresponding slot is high or low, or compared to when the expected imbalance amount is large or small.

[0025] As a result, if the imbalance charge unit price and the amount of imbalance are high for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance can be increased by adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 to the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20, making it less likely for an imbalance with the reference value to occur in that time slot. On the other hand, if the imbalance charge unit price and the amount of imbalance are low for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance by the adjustment system can be preserved in that time slot by not adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 to the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20. As a result, the imbalance with the reference value can be efficiently suppressed while appropriately limiting the use of the DER310 or DSR210.

[0026] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of reference value-related processing performed by the retail electricity provider server 100 in this embodiment. Referring to Figure 2, the processor 110 of the retail electricity provider server 100 determines whether the current time is the reference value setting timing (step S111). The setting timing is a specific time, for example, a predetermined time before the bidding deadline. In the case of a one-day-ahead market, it is 9:00, one hour before 10:00 the day before the bidding deadline for that time slot. In the case of a same-day market (hourly-ahead market), it is one hour before the start time of each time slot, which is the bidding deadline.

[0027] If the processor determines that the current time is the set timing (YES in step S111), the processor identifies a value as the reference value that is obtained by adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 to the amount of electricity that the consumer 20 will use, compared to the case where the planned imbalance unit price and the expected imbalance amount for the time slot corresponding to the reference value are high and the expected imbalance amount is large (step S112).

[0028] Figure 3 shows the time-dependent changes in the standard deviation of the imbalance unit price and imbalance amount. Referring to Figure 3, Figure 3(A) shows the time-dependent changes in the imbalance unit price over a given day, and Figure 3(B) shows the time-dependent changes in the standard deviation of the imbalance amount over a given day. The imbalance unit price is the unit price of electricity per unit amount of energy that is imbalanced relative to the reference value. In Figure 3(A), the vertical axis represents the imbalance unit price, and the horizontal axis represents time. In Figure 3(B), the vertical axis represents the standard deviation of the imbalance amount, and the horizontal axis represents time. The imbalance unit price and the standard deviation of the imbalance amount fluctuate due to the relationship between electricity supply and demand, seasonal factors, and time-dependent factors.

[0029] Figure 4 illustrates the case where a baseline value is determined without considering the planned imbalance unit price and the predicted amount of imbalance. Referring to Figure 4, if the baseline value is set by adding a relatively large, fixed amount of planned electricity usage by the DER310 or DSR210 (shown in the figure as an illustration of a vehicle capable of charging or discharging) to the planned electricity usage of customer 20 (shown in the figure as an illustration of a house), without considering the planned imbalance unit price and the predicted amount of imbalance, the surplus charge capacity for the DER310 or DSR210 will be depleted relatively quickly. As a result, it becomes impossible to adjust the amount of electricity usage by charging the DER310 or DSR210. Note that in the figure, the planned electricity usage of customer 20 is shown as constant, but in reality, it fluctuates depending on the time of day.

[0030] Figure 5 illustrates how to identify a baseline value by considering the expected imbalance cost and the magnitude of the predicted imbalance. Referring to Figure 5, when the imbalance cost is high, compared to when it is low, and when the imbalance is large, compared to when it is small, the baseline value is identified as the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 (shown in the figure as an illustration of a vehicle capable of charging or discharging) added to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer 20 (shown in the figure as an illustration of a house). In this way, by considering the expected imbalance cost and the magnitude of the predicted imbalance, and by using the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 added to the amount of electricity that the consumer 20 will use as the baseline value, a margin of charge for the DER310 or DSR210 can be maintained for a relatively long period of time.

[0031] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the effect of specifying a reference value as in this embodiment. Referring to Figure 6, we will explain the case where the reference value for the plan is the amount of electricity C2 obtained by adding the planned amount of electricity used by customer 20 (shown as a house illustration in the figure) C1 to the planned amount of electricity used by DER310 or DSR210 (shown as a vehicle capable of charging or discharging in the figure) (C2-C1).

[0032] In this case, if customer 20's demand increases and the actual amount of electricity used becomes C3, an imbalance will occur with the baseline value C2 if the amount of electricity used by DER310 or DSR210 is left unchanged. However, by reducing the amount of electricity used (charged) by DER310 or DSR210 within the range of what can be reduced, the total amount of electricity used can be brought closer to the baseline value C2.

[0033] Furthermore, if the demand from customer 20 decreases and the actual amount of electricity used becomes C4, an imbalance will occur with the baseline value C2 if the amount of electricity used by DER310 or DSR210 remains unchanged. However, by increasing the amount of electricity used (charged) by DER310 or DSR210 within the range of the increase possible, the total amount of electricity used can be brought closer to the baseline value C2.

[0034] The amount of electricity to be used by consumer 20, and the amount of electricity to be used by DER310 or DSR210, which will be added to the amount of electricity to be used by consumer 20 and included in the baseline value, may be identified using a trained model generated by machine learning such as deep learning.

[0035] As a trained model for determining the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20, for example, a trained model that has been trained to output the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20 when at least one of the following is input: season or date, time of day, or predicted weather.

[0036] As a trained model for determining the amount of electricity to be used by the DER310 or DSR210, for example, a trained model can be used that, given at least one of the following inputs: the amount of electricity to be used by customer 20, the planned imbalance unit price, the expected imbalance amount, the standard deviation of the expected imbalance amount, or the planned electricity unit price, is trained to output the amount of electricity to be used by the DER310 or DSR210.

[0037] Returning to Figure 2, the processor 110 of the retail electricity provider server 100 submits a bid to the electricity exchange server 400 with the reference value identified in step S112 and the unit price for the desired amount of electricity (step S113).

[0038] If it is determined that it is not the time to set the reference value (NO in step S111), or after step S113, the processor 110 determines whether or not the trade result has been notified from the power exchange server 400 (step S121). If it is determined that the trade result has been notified (YES in step S121), the trade result is stored in the memory 120 or auxiliary storage device 160 (step S122).

[0039] If it is determined that the contract result has not yet been notified (NO in step S121), or after step S122, the processor 110 determines whether or not it is time for the contracted power to be delivered (step S131). If it is determined that it is time for delivery (YES in step S131), the processor 110 calculates the amount of power to be supplied to the consumer 20 from the transmission and distribution company 50 for the relevant time slot based on the contract result (step S132). In this supply, the processor 110 uses DER310 or DSR210 to control the demand for electricity, aiming to minimize the difference between the actual value and the contracted baseline value within the range of possible increases and decreases. The control of DSR210 is performed either directly by the processor 110 of the retail electricity provider server 100 or indirectly via HEMS200. The DER310 is controlled either directly by the processor 110 of the retail electricity provider server 100, or indirectly via the aggregator server 300.

[0040] [Differentiation] (1) In step S112 of Figure 2 shown in the embodiment described above, if the electricity unit price is low, the value obtained by adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the DER310 or DSR210 to the amount of electricity that will be used by the consumer 20 may be specified as the reference value, compared to the case where the electricity unit price is high.

[0041] (2) In the embodiment described above, as shown in step S112 of Figure 2, the reference value is determined based on both the imbalance unit price and the imbalance amount. However, the reference value may be determined based on at least one of the imbalance unit price, the imbalance amount, and the power unit price.

[0042] [summary] (1) As shown in Figure 1, the power management device (for example, the retail electricity provider server 100) is a device of a business operator (for example, the retail electricity provider 10) that supplies electricity received from electricity suppliers (for example, the transmission and distribution business operator 50, the power generation business operator 60) to a plurality of consumers 20, and is capable of controlling an electricity supply and demand adjustment system (for example, DER310, DSR210), and comprises a memory (for example, memory 120) that stores a predetermined program (for example, a program for executing the process shown in Figure 2), and a processor (for example, processor 110) that executes the predetermined program. As shown in Figure 2, the processor, by executing a predetermined program, identifies a reference value which is the total amount of electricity planned to be supplied to multiple consumers 20 for each time slot (for example, step S112), and before the time slot corresponding to the identified reference value arrives, it communicates the reference value to the supplier in advance in order to receive the amount of electricity of the reference value from the supplier (for example, step S113), and in each time slot, controls the adjustment system so that the imbalance charge that the operator pays to the supplier for the imbalance amount, which is the difference between the reference value and the actual value which is the total amount of electricity used by multiple consumers, is small, within the range of the amount that can be increased and the amount that can be decreased (for example, step S132). As shown in Figure 6, the amount that can be increased is the amount of electricity that can be added to the actual value by being used by the adjustment system, and the amount that can be decreased is the amount of electricity that can be subtracted from the actual value by reducing the use by the adjustment system or by supplying electricity from the adjustment system to multiple consumers 20. As shown in Figures 2 to 6, the processor, by executing a predetermined program, identifies a reference value as the amount of electricity that the adjustment system is expected to use, added to the amount of electricity that the consumer is expected to use, when the unit price of the planned imbalance charge for the corresponding slot is high or low, or when the expected imbalance amount is large or small (for example, step S112).

[0043] As a result, if the unit price of the imbalance charge and the amount of imbalance are high for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance can be increased by adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by consumer 20, making it less likely for an imbalance with the reference value to occur in that time slot. On the other hand, if the unit price of the imbalance charge and the amount of imbalance are low for the time slot corresponding to the reference value, the adjustment allowance by the adjustment system can be preserved in that time slot by not adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by consumer 20. As a result, the imbalance with the reference value can be efficiently suppressed while appropriately limiting the use of the adjustment system.

[0044] (2) As shown in step S112 of Figure 2, the processor may, by executing a predetermined program, determine the reference value when the power unit price of the corresponding stool is low, or when the power unit price of the stool is high, by adding the amount of power that the adjustment system is scheduled to use to the amount of power that the consumer 20 is scheduled to use to determine the reference value.

[0045] As a result, if the electricity price per unit for the time zone corresponding to the reference value is low, even if the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system is added to the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20, the electricity charges for the added amount of electricity in that time zone can be kept down. On the other hand, if the electricity price per unit for the time zone corresponding to the reference value is high, by not adding the amount of electricity that will be used by the adjustment system to the amount of electricity that will be used by customer 20, the electricity charges for the added amount of electricity in that time zone can be kept down. As a result, the imbalance with the reference value can be efficiently suppressed while appropriately controlling the use of the adjustment system.

[0046] (3) As shown in Figure 1, the adjustment system may consist of a group of electric vehicles. This makes it possible to easily configure an adjustment system without using a large-scale adjustment system.

[0047] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of this disclosure is indicated by the claims rather than by the description of the embodiments above, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims are intended to be included. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 1 Power management system, 10 Retail electricity providers, 20 Consumers, 30 Aggregators, 40 Electricity exchange, 50 Transmission and distribution providers, 60 Power generators, 100 Retail electricity provider servers, 110 Processors, 120 Memory, 130 Input unit, 140 Output unit, 160 Auxiliary storage device, 190 Communication unit, 200 HEMS, 210 DSR, 300 Aggregator server, 310 DER, 400 Electricity exchange server, 500 Transmission and distribution provider servers, 510 Transmission and distribution equipment, 600 Power generator server, 610 Power generation equipment, 900 Communication network.

Claims

1. A power management device for a business that supplies electricity received from a power supplier to multiple consumers, The aforementioned power management device is It is possible to control the power supply and demand adjustment system. A memory that stores a predetermined program, The system comprises a processor that executes the predetermined program, The processor executes the predetermined program, A baseline value is identified for each time slot, which is the total amount of electricity planned to be supplied to the aforementioned multiple consumers. In order to receive the specified reference value of electricity from the supplier, the reference value is communicated to the supplier in advance before the time slot corresponding to the reference value begins. In each frame, the adjustment system is controlled within the range of the possible increase and decrease to reduce the imbalance amount, which is the difference between the reference value and the actual value, which is the total amount of electricity used by the multiple consumers, and the reference value, so that the imbalance charge that the operator pays to the supplier becomes smaller. The amount that can be increased is the amount of electricity that can be added to the actual value by being used by the adjustment system. The amount that can be reduced is the amount of electricity that can be subtracted from the actual value by reducing the use by the adjustment system or by supplying electricity from the adjustment system to the multiple consumers. The processor, by executing the predetermined program, identifies the reference value as the value obtained by adding the amount of electricity that the customer is expected to use to the reference value, compared to when the unit price of the planned imbalance charge for the time slot corresponding to the reference value is high or low, or compared to when the expected amount of imbalance is large or small, and then controls the adjustment system to bring the total amount of electricity used closer to the reference value by reducing the amount of electricity that the adjustment system is expected to use, which has been added to the reference value, within the range of the amount that can be reduced.

2. The power management device according to claim 1, wherein the processor, by executing the predetermined program, identifies the reference value as the value obtained by adding the amount of electricity to be used by the consumer to the amount of electricity to be used by the consumer, compared to the case where the power unit price of the kom corresponding to the reference value is low or high.

3. The power management device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the adjustment system is composed of a group of electric vehicles.

Images