Information processing device, information processing system, priority calculation method, and program

Abstract

This information processing device comprises a priority calculation unit that, on the basis of condition information for individual aggregators and power resource information for each of the aggregators, calculates the priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource, said priority being used to respond to a demand response request.

Description

Information processing device, information processing system, priority calculation method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for selecting a power resource to be used in response to a DR (Demand Response) request.

[0002] The amount of electricity demanded and the amount of electricity supplied must always be equal. To maintain this balance, DR is used, whereby electricity consumption is controlled by the consumer side. There are also aggregators that bundle many consumers together and connect them to power companies to make adjustments related to DR.

[0003] In the prior art, when an aggregator receives a DR request, it checks the status of power resources of its subordinate consumers, selects an appropriate combination, and then provides power to the DR requestor. Examples of prior art related to aggregators include the technologies disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0004] Energy Resource Aggregation Business Handbook https: / / www.enecho.meti.go.jp / category / saving_and_new / advanced_systems / vpp_dr / files / erab_handbook.pdf Power Demand Management Using Mechanism Design by Aggregators Based on Matching Theory https: / / www.jstage.jst.go.jp / article / sicetr / 52 / 11 / 52_589 / _pdf

[0005] In recent years, a wide variety of aggregators have been participating in the DR market, and the number of aggregators is increasing. Therefore, an aggregation coordinator that aggregates multiple aggregators needs to select the optimal aggregator to respond to DR requests. However, in conventional technologies, the optimal method for the aggregation coordinator to select the aggregator to use and the power resources under its control is unclear.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a technology that enables an aggregation coordinator to appropriately select an aggregator and its subordinate power resources in order to respond to a DR request.

[0007] According to the disclosed technology, an information processing device is provided that includes a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource based on condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request.

[0008] The disclosed technology provides a technology that enables an aggregation coordinator to appropriately select an aggregator and its subordinate power resources in order to respond to a DR request.

[0009] It is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram showing the configuration of an aggregation coordinator device 100 (information processing device). It is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the aggregation coordinator device 100. It is a sequence diagram of Example 1. It is a sequence diagram of Example 2. It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an apparatus.

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0011] (System Configuration Example) In this embodiment, there is an aggregation coordinator that aggregates a plurality of aggregators. Each aggregator aggregates a plurality of consumers. The aggregation coordinator exchanges DR requests and DR responses with the electric power company.

[0012] 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a system according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the aggregation coordinator has an aggregation coordinator device 100, and each aggregator has an aggregator device 200. Each consumer 300 is equipped with, for example, an EV, a storage battery, or the like.

[0013] Both the aggregation coordinator device 100 and the aggregator device 200 are, for example, one or more computers (e.g., terminals, servers) capable of transmitting and receiving data.

[0014] The aggregation coordinator device 100 and the power company 400 are connected via a network, and data can be transmitted and received between the aggregation coordinator device 100 and the power company 400 .

[0015] Furthermore, the aggregation coordinator device 100 and each aggregator device 200 are connected via a network, allowing data to be transmitted and received between the aggregation coordinator device 100 and each aggregator device 200 .

[0016] Each aggregator device 200 can acquire information about the power resources of the consumers 300 under its control, and can issue instructions related to DR requests to the consumers 300 under its control.

[0017] An instruction related to a DR request is, for example, an instruction to charge a storage battery or the like with electricity from a power company in response to an up DR request (a request to increase demand on the consumer side). Also, an instruction related to a DR request is, for example, an instruction to reduce the amount of electricity used from a power company by discharging electricity from a storage battery or the like in response to a down DR request (a request to decrease demand on the consumer side).

[0018] (Device Configuration Example, Operation Overview) To respond to a DR request, the aggregation coordinator device 100 determines priorities for optimally selecting an aggregator and its subordinate power resources, and selects an aggregator and its subordinate power resources based on the priorities. Note that "power resources" may also be referred to as "resources." The aggregation coordinator device 100 may also be referred to as an aggregation coordinator system, an information processing device, or an information processing system.

[0019] Fig. 2 shows an example of the functional configuration of aggregation coordinator device 100. As shown in Fig. 2, aggregation coordinator device 100 includes an aggregator information collection unit 110, a priority calculation unit 120, a resource combination calculation unit 130, an aggregator control unit 140, an aggregator contract information DB 150, an aggregator resource information DB 160, and an electricity market information DB 170.

[0020] The aggregator contract information DB 150, the aggregator resource information DB 160, and the power market information DB 170 may be collectively referred to as a database.

[0021] Furthermore, the "aggregator information collection unit 110, priority calculation unit 120, resource combination calculation unit 130, and aggregator control unit 140" may be physically configured as a single device, or may be separate devices. Each of these devices may be called an information processing device. Furthermore, a configuration including the priority calculation unit 120, the aggregator contract information DB 150, and the aggregator resource information DB 160 may be called an information processing system. The operation is outlined below: The aggregation coordinator device 100 receives a DR request from a power company or determines a DR request for bidding in an electricity market such as a supply and demand adjustment market, and inputs the amount of power required for DR adjustment and the objective function items to be optimized.

[0022] The aggregator information collection unit 110 collects information (contract information, resource information, etc.) of subordinate aggregators from the subordinate aggregators based on the DR request. The collected information is stored in the aggregator contract information DB 150 and the aggregator resource information DB 160. Note that if the necessary information is already stored in the DBs, information collection is not necessary.

[0023] The priority calculation unit 120 uses the information stored in each DB to determine the priority of resources according to the objective function (renewable energy index, cost index, CO2 index, etc.) based on the amount of electricity and conditions required for adjustment in response to DR requests.

[0024] The resource combination calculation unit 130 calculates the optimal ratio of resources to be used for DR requests (e.g., the ratio of power consumption is X% for resource A of aggregator A, Y% for resource A of aggregator B, etc.) according to the priority calculated by the priority calculation unit 120.

[0025] The aggregator control unit 140 outputs instructions to the subordinate aggregators based on the ratio information calculated by the resource combination calculation unit 130 .

[0026] By the above processing, when there are multiple aggregators under the aggregation coordinator, it is possible to determine the optimum combination of aggregators and resources according to the purpose.

[0027] (Processing of Priority Calculation Unit 120) The processing contents of the priority calculation unit 120 (and resource combination calculation unit 130) will be described in more detail below.

[0028] <Examples of Parameters> First, examples of parameters used by the priority calculation unit 120 in calculations are shown below as (1) to (6).

[0029] (1) Amount of power Pdr(t) required for DR adjustment (2) Objective function for optimization (3) Aggregator contract information More specifically, the aggregator contract information is as follows: Note that the contract information may also be called condition information.

[0030] (3-1) A value between 0 and 1 is determined for each aggregator based on the following criteria (x is the type of aggregator): Power response reliability a(x) indicating the reliability of the response of the contributed power (the higher the value, the higher the reliability) Penalty condition for non-response b(x) (the higher the value, the more advantageous it is for the aggregation coordinator) Coordinator convenience priority c(x) (set each time when you want to give priority to using a certain aggregator or when you will not be using a specific aggregator temporarily) (3-2) Power usage fee for each resource Cost(t, x, y) In Cost(t, x, y), t is the time, x is the type of aggregator, and y is the type of power resource the aggregator has.

[0031] (4) The predicted amount of power that the aggregator can contribute and the predicted change over time P(t, x) (5) The resource ratio R(t, x, y) to the predicted amount of power that the aggregator can contribute (6) The measured amount of power contributed W(t, x) by the aggregator Note that the above "contribution" refers to, for example, increasing the use of power supplied by the power company in order to increase demand, or reducing the use of power supplied by the power company by using power generation and discharge at the consumer's side in order to decrease demand.

[0032] <Processing Operation> Next, a description will be given of the processing operation of the priority calculation unit 120, the resource combination calculation unit 130, etc. The priority calculation unit 120, the resource combination calculation unit 130, etc. perform the following processes S1 (step 1) to S5 in accordance with the procedure of the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0033] <S1: Determining the amount of power required for DR> The priority calculation unit 120 determines Pdr(t) required for DR adjustment in response to a DR request. Note that Pdr(t) may be determined outside the priority calculation unit 120 and input to the priority calculation unit 120.

[0034] Furthermore, the priority calculation unit 120 determines an objective function. In this embodiment, the priority calculation unit 120 sets cost as the objective function and sets the cost to be optimized (minimized). Examples of settings when an objective function other than cost is used include the following.

[0035] If the objective function is a renewable energy index, the renewable energy utilization rate is optimized (maximized). If the objective function is a power generation index, the power generation amount is optimized (maximized). If the objective function is a CO2 index, the CO2 emissions amount is optimized (minimized). If the objective function is a power storage index, the ratio of additional power generation to the available capacity of the battery is optimized (maximized).

[0036] Note that a predetermined condition may be set for the definition of optimization. The maximization and minimization in the above setting examples are merely examples of the predetermined condition. For example, the predetermined condition may be "to make the value related to the index equal to or greater than a certain value or equal to or less than a certain value."

[0037] The above-mentioned objective functions are merely examples, and multiple objective functions may be used in combination.

[0038] <S2: Collecting Information on Each Aggregator> The priority calculation unit 120 collects the following multiple pieces of data on the subordinate aggregators. Specifically, the following data are collected:

[0039] The priority calculation unit 120 acquires the power response reliability a(x), the penalty condition for non-response b(x), and the coordinator convenience priority c(x) for the aggregator x from the aggregator contract information DB 150. However, data that is not used in the calculation may not be acquired.

[0040] Furthermore, the priority calculation unit 120 acquires the predicted amount of power P(t, x) that each aggregator can contribute and the resource ratio R(t, x, y) for the predicted amount of power from the aggregator resource information DB 160 .

[0041] <S3: Setting the Contribution Rate of Each Aggregator and Resource According to the Objective Function (Determining Priority)> As described above, in this embodiment, the objective function is cost. The priority calculation unit 120 sets (determines) a priority Z for each aggregator and its resource when the objective is cost optimization. Z can be expressed as Z(t, x, y) as a function of time t, aggregator x, and resource y.

[0042] The method for determining Z(t, x, y) is not limited to a specific method, but for example, it can be determined by multiplying a plurality of coefficients as follows.

[0043] Z(t, x, y) = α * β * γ ... For example, α is calculated as the product of the power response reliability a(x), the penalty condition for non-response b(x), and the coordinator convenience priority c(x), and β is calculated from Cost(t, x, y) as the price score due to resource usage, and Z can be calculated as Z(t, x, y) = α * β. Note that β may be Cost(t, x, y) itself.

[0044] One example is to calculate α as a product of the power response reliability a(x), the no-response penalty condition b(x), and the coordinator convenience priority c(x). For example, if it is desired to consider only the power response reliability a(x) in addition to the cost, the power response reliability a(x) may be used as α. Alternatively, only the no-response penalty condition b(x) may be considered and the no-response penalty condition b(x) may be used as α, or only the coordinator convenience priority c(x) may be considered and the coordinator convenience priority c(x) may be used as α.

[0045] Furthermore, resources with an amount of power that can be contributed of 0 may be excluded from the priority calculation, or may be given the lowest priority.

[0046] Furthermore, for example, if there is no difference in a certain coefficient between the "combinations of aggregators and resources" to be compared, that coefficient may not be used. For example, if there is no difference in α between the "combinations of aggregators and resources," Z may be determined using only Cost(t, x, y).

[0047] <S4: Calculation of contribution rate based on priority> The resource combination calculation unit 130 (or the priority calculation unit 120) calculates the contribution rate D(t, x, y) of each resource based on the priority Z(t, x, y) calculated in S3, using P(t, x), which is the amount of power that can be contributed, and R(t, x, y), which is the rate of resource y to that amount of power. Specifically, the priority calculation unit 120 calculates the contribution rate of each resource so as to satisfy the output amount Pdr(t), for example, as shown in the following formula.

[0048] Pdr(t) = D1 × (resource × 1 of aggregator A) + D2 × (resource × 1 of aggregator B) ... The above values ​​of D1, D2, ... are the output proportions of the results of calculating the optimal combination when the "combination of aggregator and resource" is arranged at each time in order of priority Z calculated in S3.

[0049] As an example, if the priority Z is determined in the order of "resource x1 of aggregator A," "resource x1 of aggregator B," ..., first, as much power as possible is allocated from "resource x1 of aggregator A," and if this does not satisfy Pdr(t), then the power to be contributed is allocated from "resource x1 of aggregator B." This process is repeated in order of priority Z until Pdr(t) is satisfied.

[0050] An example of an optimal combination is shown below. In the following example, it is assumed that, of the multiple parameters that can be used to determine priority, only Cost is different (power response reliability and the like are assumed to be the same). Therefore, the optimal combination based on the constraints is to arrange the parameters in descending order of Z.

[0051] Here, the amount of power P(t, A) that can be contributed by aggregator A is assumed to be 200 W, broken down as follows: 100 W from renewable energy, 50 W from storage batteries, and 50 W from EVs. The power response reliability between resources, penalty conditions for non-response, etc. are assumed to be the same values.

[0052] The values ​​of each parameter are as follows: amount of electricity R(t, A, renewable energy) = 0.5, electricity usage cost (t, A, renewable energy) = 20, priority Z(t, A, renewable energy) = 0.05, amount of electricity R(t, A, storage battery) = 0.25, electricity usage cost (t, A, storage battery) = 10, priority Z(t, A, storage battery) = 0.1, amount of electricity R(t, A, EV) = 0.25, electricity usage cost (t, A, storage battery) = 15, priority Z(t, A, EV) = 0.06.

[0053] In this case, the priority is storage batteries, EVs, and renewable energy in descending order. When Pdr(t)=100, the following contribution ratios are obtained by combining the priorities Z in descending order.

[0054] Pdr(t) = 100% × storage battery (electric energy 50) + 100% × EV (electric energy 50) + 0% × renewable energy (electric energy 100) = 1 × electric energy 50 + 1 × electric energy 50 + 0 × electric energy 100 <S5: Updating aggregator contract information> For example, the aggregator information collection unit 110 checks whether power is being provided correctly as instructed, based on the instructions to the aggregator and the actual results W(t, x), and updates the reliability a(x) and the like in the aggregator contract information DB 150 as necessary.

[0055] Below, examples 1 and 2 will be described as more specific examples.

[0056] First Embodiment First embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 4, in the first embodiment, there are a power company 400, an aggregation coordinator device 100, an aggregator A, and an aggregator B. Although aggregator A and aggregator B respectively include an aggregator device 200A and an aggregator device 200B, for convenience of description, the following description will use "aggregator A" and "aggregator B."

[0057] Furthermore, the following three points are assumed as preconditions for the first embodiment.

[0058] The aggregation coordinator device 100 executes the operation according to this embodiment upon receiving an up-DR request.

[0059] Each aggregator is capable of DR adjustment for multiple resources owned by multiple consumers who have contracts with the aggregator, and has a predicted value of response power.

[0060] The objective function is cost, and cost is optimized (minimized).

[0061] The following description will be given along the sequence shown in FIG.

[0062] 4, the aggregation coordinator device 100 receives an increase DR request from the electric power company 400. The DR request here requests that demand be changed from 100 to 120. In other words, the electric power company 400 is aware of the amount of power generation (forecast and actual results) at the electric power company and the amount of demand (forecast and actual results) of all consumers who use the power supplied by the electric power company 400, and issues a DR request to increase demand when the actual amount of power generation becomes 120, while the predicted amount of power generation is 100.

[0063] <S102> In S102, the aggregation coordinator device 100 shares with its subordinate aggregators A and B that it has received the DR request, and requests them to provide resource information, etc. Specifically, the aggregation coordinator device 100 requests the latest forecasted available power amount P(t, x) and power usage fee Cost(t, x) from aggregators A and B.

[0064] <S103> In S103, aggregator A and aggregator B each obtain the amount of power P(t, x) and the cost Cost(t, x) that they can respond to as an aggregator based on information about their subordinate consumers, and report these to the aggregation coordinator device 100.

[0065] <S104> The aggregation coordinator device 100 determines the amount of power contributed by each aggregator. Details of this process will be described later.

[0066] <S105> In S105, based on the calculation result, aggregation coordinator device 100 issues a DR command to aggregator A and aggregator B. Note that, depending on the calculation result in S104, a DR command may be issued to only one of aggregator A and aggregator B.

[0067] <S106> In S106, aggregator A and aggregator B each send a DR response to aggregation coordinator device 100 based on the instruction in S105.

[0068] <S107> In S107, the aggregation coordinator device 100 performs a DR response to the DR request.

[0069] <Details of S104> The processing in S104 will be described in detail below. The aggregation coordinator device 100 determines that an increase in demand of 20 is required to increase the demand amount from 100 to 120. Furthermore, it is assumed that the values ​​acquired in S103 (values ​​of each aggregator at a certain time t) are as follows: amount of power P(t, A) = 30, power usage fee Cost(t, A) = 20, amount of power P(t, B) = 15, power usage fee Cost(t, B) = 15.

[0070] If there is no difference in the aggregator contract information α between aggregators A and B, the aggregation coordinator device 100 uses Z(t, x) = β (price score based on resource usage) as the priority Z. The aggregation coordinator device 100 determines that "Z(t, A) < Z(t, B)" holds. In other words, it determines that B has priority.

[0071] In this case, to fill Pdr = 20, the aggregation coordinator device 100 decides to have aggregator B contribute 15, which is the entire amount of energy P(t, B) that can be contributed, and aggregator A contribute the remaining 5, and issues instructions to each aggregator.

[0072] Here, it is assumed that Pdr remains constant at 20 for a certain period of time, and that the amount of power that can be contributed P and the power usage fee Cost change for each time t within that period. Based on this assumption, the aggregation coordinator device 100 performs the above calculation for each time t. Note that time t represents, for example, a 30-minute period, which is a unit of simultaneous power balancing. At step S101, an instruction is issued for the amount of power required for each period. If the instruction is, for example, a request to increase the power from 100 to 120 for three periods, it is assumed that the cost and other factors will also change for each period (each time t), and therefore the calculation is performed for each time t, as described above. Time t is not limited to 30 minutes. It may be a predetermined period of time, such as 5 minutes, 60 minutes, or 120 minutes.

[0073] Since the priority usually changes depending on the aggregator contract information and the time, the aggregation coordinator device 100 calculates the contribution ratio D(t, x) of each aggregator as a function of t based on the priority, and then calculates the above-mentioned amount of power.

[0074] Furthermore, if there is a difference in the aggregator contract information α, the priority is derived based on Z(t, x) = α * β. If there is no difference in the power usage fee β, the priority is derived based on Z(t, x) = α.

[0075] Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 5, in the second embodiment, there are a power company 400, an aggregation coordinator device 100, an aggregator A, and an aggregator B. Furthermore, a consumer 300A is present under the control of aggregator A, and consumers 300B-1 and 300B-2 are present under the control of aggregator B.

[0076] Consumer 300A is equipped with a storage battery (capable of storing and discharging electricity) and an EV power supply (capable of storing and discharging electricity). Consumer 300B-1 is equipped with a storage battery (capable of storing and discharging electricity). Consumer 300B-2 is equipped with an EV power supply (capable of storing and discharging electricity). Each consumer may also be equipped with a solar power generation device.

[0077] As in the first embodiment, the second embodiment is premised on the following three points.

[0078] The aggregation coordinator device 100 executes the operation according to this embodiment upon receiving an up-DR request.

[0079] Each aggregator can adjust DR for multiple resources owned by multiple consumers that have contracts with it, has predicted values ​​for response power, and can submit information for each resource to the aggregation coordinator device 100.

[0080] The objective function is cost, and cost is optimized (minimized).

[0081] The explanation will be given along the sequence in Figure 5. S1 to S3 in Figure 5 show that each consumer reports to the aggregator. The information to be reported includes power generation amount (forecast and actual), demand amount (forecast and actual), stored power amount (power generation source information and amount), resource information, etc. If a consumer cannot respond to supply and demand adjustment for some reason, the consumer reports power generation amount, etc. as 0, for example. Furthermore, when the consumer is a factory, a demand plan, etc. is assumed as a demand forecast.

[0082] <S201> In S201, the aggregation coordinator device 100 receives an upward DR request from the electric power company 400. The DR request here requests that the demand be changed from 100 to 120, as in the first embodiment.

[0083] <S202> In S202, the aggregation coordinator device 100 shares with its subordinate aggregators A and B that it has received the DR request, and requests them to provide resource information, etc. Specifically, the aggregation coordinator device 100 requests the latest forecasted available power amount P(t, x, y) and power usage fee Cost(t, x, y) from aggregators A and B.

[0084] <S203> In S203, aggregator A and aggregator B each obtain the amount of power P(t, x, y) that can be responded to for each resource as an aggregator and its cost Cost(t, x, y) based on information about the consumers under their control, and report these to the aggregation coordinator device 100.

[0085] <S204> The aggregation coordinator device 100 determines the amount of power contributed by each aggregator resource. Details of this process will be described later.

[0086] <S205> In S205, based on the calculation result, aggregation coordinator device 100 issues a DR command to aggregator A and aggregator B. Note that, depending on the calculation result in S204, a DR command may be issued to only one of aggregator A and aggregator B.

[0087] <S206> In S206, aggregator A and aggregator B each send a DR response to aggregation coordinator device 100 based on the instruction in S205.

[0088] <S207> In S207, the aggregation coordinator device 100 performs a DR response to the DR request.

[0089] <Details of S204> The processing in S204 will be described in detail below. The aggregation coordinator device 100 determines that an increase in demand of 20 is required to increase the demand amount from 100 to 120. Furthermore, it is assumed that the values ​​acquired in S203 (values ​​of each aggregator at a certain time t) are as follows:

[0090] Values ​​for aggregator A: Amount of energy P(t, A, storage battery) = 30, Power usage cost Cost(t, A, storage battery) = 20, Amount of energy P(t, A, EV) = 5, Power usage cost Cost(t, A, EV) = 5 Values ​​for aggregator B: Amount of energy P(t, B, storage battery) = 0, Power usage cost Cost(t, B, storage battery) = 3, Amount of energy P(t, B, EV) = 5, Power usage cost Cost(t, B, EV) = 10 If there is no difference in the aggregator contract information α between aggregators A and B, the aggregation coordinator device 100 uses Z(t, x, y) = β (price score based on resource usage) as the priority Z.

[0091] Therefore, the aggregation coordinator device 100 determines that "Z(t, A, EV) > Z(t, B, EV) > Z(t, A, storage battery)" holds. In other words, the order of priority is A's EV, B's EV, and A's storage battery. Note that because the amount of power P(t, B, storage battery) = 0, B's storage battery is excluded.

[0092] In this case, to fill Pdr=20, a plan is calculated to contribute 5 from the EV of aggregator A, 10 from the storage battery of aggregator A, and 5 from the EV of aggregator B as demand.

[0093] Here, it is assumed that Pdr is constant at 20 for a certain period of time, and that the amount of power that can be contributed P and the power usage fee Cost change for each time t within that period. Under this assumption, the aggregation coordinator device 100 performs the above calculation for each time t.

[0094] (Supplementary Notes on Examples 1 and 2) In the above description, each consumer is assumed to be a company or a general household that handles small amounts of power, but the consumer is not limited to this assumption. The consumer may also be a business that handles large amounts of power.

[0095] Furthermore, the consumer may be, for example, a business that handles renewable energy such as wind power generation or solar power generation, a biomass power generation business, or a geothermal power generation business.

[0096] Furthermore, the power generation equipment owned by the consumer may not only be a power generation equipment such as a solar power generation equipment, but also a facility that can adjust the supply and demand of electricity. For example, it may be a facility that can generate electricity for use elsewhere by adjusting the operation of installed servers (reducing power consumption), such as a data center. In addition to consumers, the aggregator may also own power generation equipment directly.

[0097] (Hardware Configuration Example) Any of the devices described in this embodiment (aggregation coordinator device 100, information processing device) can be realized, for example, by running a program on a computer. This computer may be a physical computer or a virtual machine on a cloud.

[0098] That is, the device can be realized by executing a program corresponding to the processing performed by the device using hardware resources such as a CPU and memory built into a computer. The program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (such as a portable memory) and stored or distributed. The program can also be provided via a network such as the Internet or email.

[0099] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the computer. The computer in Fig. 14 includes a drive device 1000, an auxiliary storage device 1002, a memory device 1003, a CPU 1004, an interface device 1005, a display device 1006, an input device 1007, an output device 1008, and the like, all of which are interconnected via a bus B. The computer may further include a GPU.

[0100] The program that realizes the processing on the computer is provided by a recording medium 1001, such as a CD-ROM or a memory card. When the recording medium 1001 storing the program is set in the drive device 1000, the program is installed from the recording medium 1001 to the auxiliary storage device 1002 via the drive device 1000. However, the program does not necessarily have to be installed from the recording medium 1001, but may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 1002 stores the installed program as well as necessary files, data, etc.

[0101] The memory device 1003 reads and stores a program from the auxiliary storage device 1002 when an instruction to start the program is received. The CPU 1004 realizes functions related to the device in accordance with the program stored in the memory device 1003. The interface device 1005 is used as an interface for connecting to a network, etc. The display device 1006 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like according to the program. The input device 1007 is composed of a keyboard, mouse, buttons, a touch panel, etc., and is used to input various operation instructions. The output device 1008 outputs the results of calculations.

[0102] (Effects of the embodiment, etc.) As described above, the technology described in this embodiment makes it possible to determine the optimal combination of aggregators and resources according to the purpose when there are multiple aggregators under the aggregation coordinator.

[0103] As an example, by determining resource priorities so as to maximize the use of renewable energy generation, it becomes possible to respond to demands for DR as well as to meet the need to reduce environmental impact.

[0104] The following additional notes are provided regarding the above-described embodiments.

[0105] <Supplementary Notes> (Supplementary Item 1) An information processing device comprising: a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority for each combination of an aggregator and a power resource, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request based on condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator. (Supplementary Item 2) The information processing device according to Supplementary Item 1, wherein the priority calculation unit calculates the priority using at least one of power response reliability, penalty conditions for no response, coordinator convenience priority, and power usage fee for each power resource as the condition information. (Supplementary Item 3) The information processing device according to Supplementary Item 1, further comprising: a resource combination calculation unit that calculates an amount of power to be contributed to respond to the demand response request for each combination of an aggregator and a power resource, based on the priority. (Supplementary Item 4) The information processing device according to Supplementary Item 3, wherein the resource combination calculation unit calculates an amount of power to be contributed for each combination of an aggregator and a power resource using an amount of power that can be contributed for each aggregator as the power resource information. (Supplementary Item 5) An information processing system comprising: a database storing condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator; and a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request based on the condition information and the power resource information acquired from the database. (Supplementary Item 6) A priority calculation method executed by an information processing device, comprising: a priority calculation step of calculating a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request based on the condition information for each aggregator and the power resource information for each aggregator. (Supplementary Item 7) A non-transitory storage medium that stores a program for causing a computer to function as each unit in the information processing device described in any one of Supplementary Items 1 to 4.

[0106] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such a specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

[0107] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Aggregation coordinator device 110 Aggregator information collection unit 120 Priority calculation unit 130 Resource combination calculation unit 140 Aggregator control unit 150 Aggregator contract information DB 160 Aggregator resource information DB 170 Power market information DB 200 Aggregator device 300 Customer 400 Power company 1000 Drive device 1001 Recording medium 1002 Auxiliary storage device 1003 Memory device 1004 CPU 1005 Interface device 1006 Display device 1007 Input device 1008 Output device

Claims

1. An information processing device having a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource based on condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator, which is used to respond to a demand response request.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the priority calculation unit calculates the priority using at least one of the following condition information: power response reliability, penalty conditions for non-response, coordinator convenience priority, and power usage fee for each power resource.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a resource combination calculation unit that calculates the amount of power for each combination of aggregator and power resource to be contributed to respond to the demand response request based on the priority.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the resource combination calculation unit calculates the amount of power for each combination of aggregator and power resource using the amount of power that can be contributed by each aggregator as the power resource information.

5. An information processing system comprising: a database that stores condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator; and a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource based on the condition information and power resource information obtained from the database, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request.

6. A priority calculation method executed by an information processing device, the priority calculation method including a priority calculation step of calculating a priority for each combination of aggregator and power resource based on condition information for each aggregator and power resource information for each aggregator, the priority being used to respond to a demand response request.

7. A program for causing a computer to function as each unit in the information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images