The microCHP scheduling problem

The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources, the demand for more energy efficient electricity production and the increase in distributed electricity generation causes a shift in the way electricity is produced and consumed. The downside of these changes in the electricity grid is that network stability and controllability become more difficult compared to the old situation. The new network has to accommodate various means of production, consumption and buffering and needs to offer control over the energy flows between these three elements. In order to offer such a control mechanism we need to know more about the individual aspects. In this paper we focus on the modelling of distributed production. Especially, we look at the use of microCHP (Combined Heat and Power) appliances in a group of houses. The problem of planning the production runs of the microCHP is modelled via an ILP formulation, both for a single house and for a group of houses.