Demand aggregators are expected to have a key role in future electricity systems. More specifically, aggregators can facilitate the harnessing of consumers’ flexibility. This paper focuses on understanding the value of the aggregator in terms of aggregation of both flexibility and information. We consider the aggregation of flexibility as the ability to exercise a direct control over loads, while the aggregation of information refers to knowledge of the flexibility characteristics of the consumers. Several game theory formulations are used to model the interaction between the energy provider, consumers and the aggregator, each with a different information structure. We develop a potential game to obtain the Nash equilibrium of the non-cooperative game with complete information and we analyze the system dynamics of consumers using the adaptive expectations method in an incomplete information scenario. Several key insights about the value of aggregators are found. In particular, the value of the aggregator is mainly related to the aggregation of information rather than flexibility, and flexibility is valuable only when it can be coordinated. In this sense, prices are not enough to guarantee an effective coordination.

预计需求聚合器将在未来的电力系统中发挥关键作用。更具体地说，聚合器可以促进利用消费者的灵活性。本文侧重于理解聚合器在灵活性和信息聚合方面的价值。我们认为灵活性的聚合是对负载进行直接控制的能力，而信息的聚合是指对消费者灵活性特征的了解。几种博弈论公式用于模拟能源供应商、消费者和聚合商之间的相互作用，每个都具有不同的信息结构。我们开发了一个潜在的博弈来获得具有完全信息的非合作博弈的纳什均衡，并在不完全信息的情况下使用自适应期望方法分析消费者的系统动力学。发现了关于聚合器价值的几个关键见解。特别是，聚合器的价值主要与信息的聚合有关而不是灵活性，而灵活性只有在可以协调时才有价值。从这个意义上说，价格不足以保证有效的协调。