Data-driven surrogate optimization for deploying heterogeneous multi-energy storage to improve demand response performance at building cluster level

Energy storage such as battery and thermal energy storage is an effective approach to shift building peak load and alleviate grid stress at a building cluster level. However, due to the heterogeneous performance of different types of storage (e.g., response speed, charge/discharge efficiency and rate, storage capacity) and highly diversified energy use patterns of individual buildings, the multi-energy storage should be properly selected and optimally designed for individual buildings to achieve effective load shifting. The optimal deployment of multi-energy storage at a cluster level is a challenging optimization problem due to the nonlinear dynamic performance of the multi-energy storage and the high dimensionality as a result of a large number of buildings. To tackle the challenges, this study proposes a data-driven surrogate optimization method that optimally deploys multi-energy storage at a cluster level to minimize the building cluster energy bill under demand response programs. The method utilizes data-driven surrogate models to accurately predict demand response performance of individual buildings with multi-energy storage. An iterative optimization with automated energy-storage-option screening is developed to optimize the multi-energy storage configurations and design parameters. For a case study including 21 buildings, by optimally deploying multi-energy storage including battery, cooling TES tank, and building-integrated TES, the method reduced the building cluster energy bill by 8%–181% as compared to baseline cases. The optimal deployment method effectively identifies the buildings with better potential to adopt demand-side management and balances the pros and cons of the energy storage options, increasing demand response incentives by 12%–31%. The proposed method can be used in practice to facilitate the deployment of energy storage and improve engagement of buildings in demand response.