IEC TS 63189-1:2023
(Main)Virtual power plants - Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
Virtual power plants - Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
IEC TS 63189-1:2023 covers the terms and definitions, system composition and control modes of virtual power plant (VPP). It defines the functional requirements for VPPs, including power generation forecasting, load forecasting, generation and consumption scheduling, control and management of energy storage devices and loads, coordinated optimization of distributed energy resources, status monitoring and communication, data collection and analysis, and market transactions.
Since a virtual power plant is a cluster of dispersed energy converting installations, which are aggregated, it uses additional systems to achieve its objectives (e.g. regional energy meteorology forecasting, site specific energy management systems, SCADA and other communication systems).
Local regulations, the electricity market model and the corresponding manner of organising the market related to the utilisation of controllable DER affect the management, control and operation of VPPs.
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Standards Content (Sample)
IEC TS 63189-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2023-09
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Virtual power plants –
Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
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IEC TS 63189-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2023-09
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Virtual power plants –
Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.240.01 ISBN 978-2-8322-7575-7
– 2 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 System components . 9
4.1 General . 9
4.2 Power generation units . 9
4.3 Controllable loads . 9
4.4 Energy storage . 9
4.5 Microgrids . 10
4.6 VMS . 10
5 Control mode . 10
5.1 Centralized control mode . 10
5.1.1 General . 10
5.1.2 Dispatch and control architecture. 11
5.1.3 Communication system . 11
5.1.4 Application scenario . 12
5.2 Decentralized control mode . 12
5.2.1 General . 12
5.2.2 Decentralized control-centralized assessment . 13
5.2.3 Decentralized control-local assessment . 14
6 Functional requirements . 14
6.1 Status monitoring and communication . 14
6.1.1 Status monitoring and data collection . 14
6.1.2 Communication and interface specification . 15
6.1.3 Data analysis functional requirements . 15
6.2 Prediction . 16
6.2.1 Power generation forecast . 16
6.2.2 Controllable load forecast . 17
6.3 Aggregation and optimization . 17
6.3.1 Aggregation . 17
6.3.2 Optimization . 18
6.3.3 Generation and load schedule development . 18
6.4 Ancillary services . 20
6.5 Electricity market transaction function . 20
6.5.1 Participate in the electricity market or aggregate ancillary services . 20
6.5.2 Submit bids to the electricity trade centre . 21
Annex A (informative) Ancillary service specification requirements . 22
Bibliography . 24
Figure 1 – VPP composition diagram . 9
Figure 2 – Centralized control mode architecture . 11
Figure 3 – Decentralized control mode architecture . 12
Figure 4 – VPP participates in the day-ahead operation process of electricity market . 19
Table A.1 – General specification requirements of VPP participating ancillary services . 23
– 4 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS –
Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
FOREWORD
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9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of patent
rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
IEC TS 63189-1 has been prepared by subcommittee SC 8B: Decentralized electrical energy
systems, of IEC technical committee TC 8: System aspects of electrical energy supply. It is a
Technical Specification.
The text of this Technical Specification is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
8B/124/DTS 8B/197/RVDTS
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this Technical Specification is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/publications.
A list of all parts in the IEC 63189 series, published under the general title Virtual power plants,
can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The "colour inside" logo on the cover page of this document indicates that it
contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding of its
contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.
– 6 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS –
Part 1: Architecture and functional requirements
1 Scope
This part of IEC 63189 covers the terms and definitions, system composition and control modes
of virtual power plant (VPP). It defines the functional requirements for VPPs, including power
generation forecasting, load forecasting, generation and consumption scheduling, control and
management of energy storage devices and loads, coordinated optimization of distributed
energy resources, status monitoring and communication, data collection and analysis, and
market transactions.
Since a virtual power plant is a cluster of dispersed energy converting installations, which are
aggregated, it uses additional systems to achieve its objectives (e.g. regional energy
meteorology forecasting, site specific energy management systems, SCADA and other
communication systems).
Local regulations, the electricity market model and the corresponding manner of organising the
market related to the utilisation of controllable DER affect the management, control and
operation of VPPs.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 60870-5-101, Telecontrol equipment and systems – Part 5-101: Transmission protocols –
Companion standard for basic telecontrol tasks
IEC 60870-5-104, Telecontrol equipment and systems – Part 5-104: Transmission protocols –
Network access for IEC 60870-5-101 using standard transport profiles
IEC 61000 (all parts): Electromagnetic compatibility EMC
IEC 61850 (all parts), Communication networks and systems for power utility automation
IEC 62351-3, Power systems management and associated information exchange – Data and
communications security – Part 3: Communication network and system security – Profiles including
TCP/IP
IEC TS 62351-5, Power systems management and associated information exchange – Data and
communications security – Part 5: Security for IEC 60870-5 and derivatives
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
controllable load
load of particular consumers which under contract must be increased or reduced, for a limited
period of time, at the request of the distribution supply undertaking
Note 1 to entry: Controllable load can be increased as well as reduced, according to the request of the distribution
supply undertaking.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-603:1986, 603-04-42, modified – "increased or" has been added to the
definition.]
3.2
distributed energy resources
DER
generating units (with their auxiliaries, protection and connection equipment), as well as load
units and those units having both characteristics (such as electrical energy storage systems),
connected to a low-voltage or a medium-voltage network
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-617: 2009, 617-04-20, modified: adopted for the inclusion of controllable
loads]
3.3
distributed generation
DG
generation of electric energy by multiple sources which are connected to the power distribution
system
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-617:2009, 617-04-09]
3.4
demand response
DR
action resulting from management of the electricity demand in response to supply conditions
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-617:2009, 617-04-16]
3.5
demand side management
DSM
process that is intended to influence the quantity or patterns of use of electric energy consumed
by end-use customers
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-617:2009, 617-04-15]
– 8 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
3.6
electrical energy storage system
EES system
EESS
grid-connected installation with defined electrical boundaries, comprising at least one electrical
energy storage, which extracts electrical energy from an electric power system, stores this
energy internally in some manner and injects electrical energy into an electrical power system
and which includes civil engineering works, energy conversion equipment and related ancillary
equipment
Note 1 to entry: The EES system is controlled and coordinated to provide services to the electric power system
operators or to the electric power system users.
Note 2 to entry: In some cases, an EES system may require an additional energy source (nonelectrical) during its
discharge, providing more energy to the electric power system than the energy it stored (compressed air energy
storage is a typical example where additional thermal energy is required).
Note 3 to entry: “Electric power system” is defined in IEC 60050-601:1985, 601-01-01.
[SOURCE: IEC 62933-1:2018, 3.1.2]
3.7
local control unit
LCU
device that interfaces field equipment to a control system by transmitting measurement and
status data from the equipment to the control system and operating commands from the control
system to the equipment
3.8
microgrid
group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources with defined electrical
boundaries forming a local electric power system at distribution voltage levels, that acts as a
single controllable entity and is able to operate in either grid-connected or island mode
Note 1 to entry: This definition covers both (utility) distribution microgrids and (customer owned) facility microgrids.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-617:2009, 617-04-22]
3.9
virtual power plant
VPP
party or system that realizes aggregation, optimization and control of distributed generation,
energy storage devices and controllable loads
Note 1 to entry: The aggregated distributed generation, energy storage devices and controllable loads are not
necessarily within the same geographical area.
Note 2 to entry: The party or system is to facilitate the activities in power system operations and electricity market.
3.10
virtual power plant management system
VMS
system which can realize the dispatch management and control of different VPP units such as
generators, loads and energy storage units, with the VPP participating in market trading in an
orderly manner
4 System components
4.1 General
A VPP may include distributed generators, storages and controllable loads spread over a wide
geographical area, equivalent to a large power plant with the function of regulation and control.
A core part of a VPP is the virtual power plant management system (VMS). In VPPs, the VMS
can communicate with generators, controllable loads, energy storage units and microgrids with
different reserved communication interfaces to provide operational data and realize unified
scheduling management and control. The communication medium can be optical fibre, cable or
wireless, with OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control), IEC or other protocols.
The VMS provides external interfaces and can interact with system operator and energy
management/trading platform to implement external information access release, scheduling
management and market trading. Figure 1 shows the VPP system components.
Figure 1 – VPP composition diagram
A typical virtual power plant possibly contains multiple levels, among which the subordinate
level may be regarded as an integrated part for the upper level, and a VPP can also be formed
by a certain amount of VPPs.
4.2 Power generation units
The power generation units of a VPP can include dispersed wind turbines, photovoltaic power
plants, thermal power units and other units. The power generation unit can interact with VMS
to upload the status information of the power generation unit and respond to the power
generation control command of VMS. The power generation forecast function should be
provided by upper layer VMS.
4.3 Controllable loads
The controllable loads of a VPP can include industrial loads, office building loads, air
conditioning, lighting, electric vehicles, and other loads. The controllable loads exchange
information with the VMS, upload the status information and respond to the power demand
command of VMS. The controllable loads prediction function should be provided by the upper
layer VMS.
4.4 Energy storage
The energy storage units of a VPP can include electric energy storage, pumped storage and
other units, which have the ability to interact with the power grid in two directions, and can
supply or consume power. The energy storage unit interacts with the VMS to upload the status
information of the units and respond to the charge and discharge control commands of the VMS.
– 10 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
The energy storage units can help the upper layer VMS to realize an optimized operation control
strategy.
4.5 Microgrids
A microgrid is a small power distribution system consisting of distributed generation, energy
storage units, energy conversion device, load, monitoring, control, energy management and
protection devices. It may operate in grid-connected or island mode. It is used to realize flexible
and efficient application of distributed energy resources. The VMS communicates with the
microgrid control system, and then the microgrid control system communicates with the
generators, EES units, loads, etc., in microgrid.
On a basis of having the integration function for DER, microgrids and VPPs not only play the
role of participating in market transactions and demand response, but also provide support for
peak regulation and frequency regulation for the system.
Microgrids and VPPs have certain commonalities regarding the system components, role in
aggregating DER, participating market activities including demand response, as well as
providing ancillary service to the power system.
While microgrids and VPPs have a major difference regarding geographic boundary. A microgrid
is a physical system composed of DER, loads, electric lines and so forth that located in the
same geographic area, and is connected to the main grid as a single unit. Virtual power plants
are capable to achieve geographically dispersed DER aggregation and coordination by
advanced communication technologies and by software and hardware framework, taking part
in the electricity market as an independent unit.
4.6 VMS
The VMS realizes the dispatch management and control of different VPP units such as
generators, loads and energy storage units, with the VPP participating in market trading in an
orderly manner. The VMS should include data acquisition and communication systems to realize
data communication and interaction with different systems and units. According to different
control methods, a VMS can function in centralized control mode or decentralized control mode.
The centralized control mode is generally applicable to smaller and more centralized
controllable resource aggregation, such as DER connected at the same grid point. The
decentralized control mode is more suitable for large-scale, geographically distributed areas
control resource aggregation.
5 Control mode
5.1 Centralized control mode
5.1.1 General
In the centralized control mode, the VMS determines the optimization objectives according to
the grid state, and then directly controls and schedules the LCUs (local control unit) according
to the analysis and calculation of the optimal scheduling strategy according to the optimization
objectives. LCU converts the operational state or signal into a data format that can be sent via
communication channels. It also converts the data/information sent from the VMS into
commands to realize the functional control of the remote equipment. See Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Centralized control mode architecture
5.1.2 Dispatch and control architecture
In the centralized control mode, all kinds of measurement variables, state variables and control
variables are collected by the LCU and uploaded directly to the VMS. The VMS analyses and
calculates the optimal dispatch and control strategy according to the given optimization
objectives and sends the dispatch commands to the LCU. The LCU forwards the dispatch
command to the control systems of DER and controllable load for implementation.
The time interval for the LCU to upload data to the VMS shall be suitable for the type of business
in which the VPP participates. When the VPP participates in real-time business, it should be
transmitted frequently. While when participating in non-real-time business, it can be transmitted
less frequently.
When a certain regulated resource is out of operation due to failure or maintenance, offline
status information needs to be uploaded to the LCU. The LCU then uploads the information to
the VMS, and the VMS will re-optimize the objective function and determine set points of the
other regulated resources.
5.1.3 Communication system
Communication system should be implemented to enable the data and information exchange
amongst different layers of VPP, i.e. the DER and LCU, controllable and LCU, LCU and VMS,
VMS with system operator and energy market. The communication system shall consider the
real engineering conditions and allow to use consistently multiple communication technologies
and protocols.
The communication system shall be specified by the following technical parameters:
– Quality of the communication network
– Communications technology and protocols for communications networks
– Access rate requirements for different control scenarios
– Information model
– Security requirements
___________
IEC 61850-7-420:2021, Communication networks and systems for power utility automation – Part 7-420: Basic
communication structure – Distributed energy resources and distribution automation logical nodes is an eligible
data model for supporting VPPs (independently from the communication protocol).
– 12 – IEC TS 63189-1:2023 © IEC 2023
The first four requirements are detailed in 6.1, the establishment of security protection capability
should be considered from the aspects of potential malicious attacker's capability, natural
disasters, other external threats, internal system vulnerabilities, and recovery capability after
damage. The security protection plan shall include physical environment protection, security
area division, terminal protection, communication control, security equipment and protection
system selection, security policy and process, etc.
5.1.4 Application scenario
The central control mode is suitable for a single operator to build a small VPP. The controllable
resources are few in number, variety and total amount in a small scope (for example, contiguous
urban areas), which mainly provides services for local power grid or power users.
5.2 Decentralized control mode
5.2.1 General
In decentralized control mode, Central VPP Management System (CVMS) and Local VPP
Management System (LVMS) coordinate the control and dispatch of LCUs. LVMS may also
have lower-level LVMS nested within it. Among them, according to the different division of
functions between CVMS and LVMS, decentralized control mode can be classified into
decentralized control-centralized assessment and decentralized control-local assessment. In
the decentralized control-centralized assessment, calculation is performed by the CVMS and
implemented by the LVMS. In the decentralized control-local assessment, calculation and
implementation are performed by the LVMS, and the CVMS is only used as the data exchange
and management system for interactive electricity price information, meteorological information,
etc., and decomposes and distributes the power grid dispatching or power market demand to
the LVMS.
The communication system between CVMS and LVMS shall consider the real eng
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