Bi-Level Optimal Configuration of Multi-Building Flexible Interconnected Energy Systems Considering Multi-Energy Complementarity

Abstract

Flexible interconnection among different building types holds significant importance for integrating distributed energy resources, mitigating regional load peak-valley differences, and enhancing the local consumption capacity of renewable energy. Addressing the issue of insufficient multi-energy synergy in multi-building clusters, this paper proposes a bi-level optimal configuration method for flexible interconnected energy systems that accounts for multi-energy complementarity. By constructing a comprehensive multi-energy flow model encompassing all elements of source, network, load, storage, and conversion, a bi-level optimization framework is established. The upper level aims to minimize total lifecycle cost and carbon emissions, while the lower level targets maximizing the renewable energy self-consumption rate and minimizing daily operational cost. An improved NSGA-II algorithm integrating Lévy flight and a good point set is employed for an efficient solution. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can achieve cross-spatiotemporal energy transfer and multi-energy collaborative optimization. In a typical summer day scenario, the system’s renewable energy self-consumption rate increased to 96.20%, operational cost was reduced by 8.83%, and carbon emissions decreased by 10.18%, validating the effectiveness and superiority of the method in improving energy utilization efficiency and supporting the low-carbon and economic transition of regional building systems. The outcomes of this study can provide theoretical support and engineering reference for the low-carbon, economical, and efficient planning of multi-building energy systems.

Keywords

Building energy systems / Flexible interconnection / Multi-energy complementarity / Bi-level optimization / Low-carbon operation

Statement of the Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used DeepSeek in order to check the English grammar. After using this tool, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the published article.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Key R&D Program of China, and thank the National Center of Technology Innovation for Green and Low-Carbon Building for providing the experimental platform.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, W.W. and J.H.; Methodology, W.W. and X.X.; Software S.L., Validation, W.W. and S.L.; Formal Analysis S.L., Investigation B.L., Resources W.W., Data Curation B.L., Writing—Original Draft Preparation W.W., Writing—Review & Editing W.W., Visualization W.W., Supervision J.H., Project Administration X.X., Funding Acquisition, X.X.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2024YFC3810105).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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