Ramping-aware Enhanced Flexibility Aggregation of Distributed Generation with Energy Storage in Power Distribution Networks

Abstract: Power distribution networks are increasingly hosting controllable and flexible distributed energy resources (DERs) that, when aggregated, can provide ancillary support to transmission systems. However, existing aggregation schemes often ignore the ramping constraints of these DERs, which can render them impractical in real deployments. This work proposes a ramping-aware flexibility aggregation scheme, computed at the transmission-distribution boundary, that explicitly accounts for DER ramp limits and yields flexibility envelopes that are provably disaggregable. To further enhance the attainable flexibility region, we introduce a novel pre-ramping strategy, which proactively adjusts resource operating points to enlarge the aggregated flexibility envelope while preserving both network feasibility and disaggregation guarantees. The proposed method demonstrates a 5.2% to 19.2% improvement in flexibility relative to the baseline model, depending on system conditions. We validate the scheme on an IEEE-33 bus distribution system and provide formal proofs showing that both aggregation strategies are disaggregable for all feasible trajectories within the aggregate flexibility envelope.