Robust Optimal Dispatch for Combined Heat and Power Virtual Power Plants Considering Electrolytic Molten Carbonate Technology

Traditional gas-fired cogeneration units operate in a heat-led mode, which may lead to insufficient flexibility in peak load shaving and result in a certain amount of carbon dioxide emissions during operation. To realize the goal of "dual-carbon", enhance the unit’s flexible capacity, reduce system carbon emissions, and promote the coordinated consumption of new energy with the system, a virtual power plant is established by integrating a carbon capture gas-fired cogeneration plant coupled with electrolytic molten carbonate (EMC) technology, an electric boiler, organic Rankine cycle (ORC)-based waste heat power generation equipment, a wind power plant, and a photovoltaic power plant. Firstly, three different optimization strategies are compared to analyze the low-carbon and economic performance of the virtual power plant. Considering the volatility of wind power, photovoltaic power, and electrical and thermal loads, the impact of different electrical and thermal adjustable robust parameters on the economic performance and carbon emissions of the virtual power plant is analyzed by robust optimization based on an adjustable uncertainty set of multiple energy sources. The example analysis demonstrates that the constructed model can effectively improve the stability, economy and low-carbon performance of system operation.