Coordinated Dynamic Operating Envelopes for Network-Admissible Flexibility at the Grid Edge

Abstract

Dynamic operating envelopes (DOEs) provide a systematic framework to integrate the flexibility of distribution grid resources while safeguarding network limits such as line ratings and voltage bounds. However, the flexibility derived from individual DOEs is often restricted and conservative, especially when some resources can coordinate via communication with an aggregator. This paper presents a convex, geometry-aware framework for constructing DOE for distribution grid customers under partial coordination, with coordinated customers modeled through polytopal flexibility sets and non-coordinated customers through hyperrectangles. The framework additionally incorporates fairness constraints for export and import headroom allocated to the customers within the DOE design. To account for forecast uncertainty in inelastic injections, the DOE design is extended to a robust formulation for bounded uncertainty sets. Case studies on two European three-phase low-voltage feeders, a widely used test feeder and a large-scale (3589)-bus system, show that the proposed DOE construction expands aggregate flexibility while maintaining network feasibility, fairness, and robustness to forecast uncertainty. Coordinating 30% of customers increases the aggregate active-power range by approximately 25% on the test feeder, while coordinating 20 customers on the large-scale feeder increases it by approximately 43%.