# A Methodology for Exploiting Smart Prosumers' Flexibility in a Bottom-Up Aggregation Process  
Diego Arnone  
Engineering Ingengengenia Informatica SpA, 00185 Rome, Italy; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (D.A. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.M.) [PERSON] Cacioppo  
Engineering Department, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G.I. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (I.M. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.M.) [PERSON]  
that, although not exhaustive of the topic, give a clear idea on the most discussed issues in the recent literature. In [13], the baselining challenge on the interface between the DSO and an aggregator is faced in the context of utilizing flexibility in distribution networks. In [14], the authors show how an aggregator can fulfill a flexibility request by re-scheduling the home-appliances loads of 20 residential end-users for the next 24-h horizon while minimizing the costs associated with the remuneration given to end-users. The same issue is faced in [15], where an efficient and scalable MILP/mixed-integer quadratic problem optimization model solved using Gurobi solver, which can handle thousands of appliances, was proposed. In [16], a scheme was proposed with an aggregator managing the operating power of aggregated air conditioners considering participation priority for voltage regulation purposes, while in [17], the authors discuss the optimal participation of Electric Vehicles' aggregators in day-ahead energy and regulation markets, proposing a suitable model for this case. Finally, in [18], the authors proposed a solution for the interaction of aggregators in a common balancing group consisting of an iterative distributed algorithm based on non-cooperative game theory. There are not many papers in the literature that deal with the topic of distributed resources aggregation in the absence of an aggregator. As an example, Overgrid is proposed as a P2P architecture designed to control and implement DR schemes in a community of smart buildings in an automatic way [19], applicable also to the case of small islands [7]. In [20], a P2P aggregation platform was proposed for purchasing energy in the liberalized energy market, where prosumers are evaluated and clustered according to their reliability and to the width of the range of regulation allowed. In this context, the Italian research project DEMAND proposed an innovative way for managing the aggregation of prosumers connected to the distribution network without the need of a third-party aggregator and allowing the participation of all kinds of prosumers (industrial, commercial and residential prosumers) [21,22]. The novelty of DEMAND is the replacement of the physical aggregator with a market platform named Virtual Aggregation Environment (VAE). The VAE is a virtual place that does not take any decision about the aggregation but simply facilitates the exchange of information among the prosumers in a smart grid, with the aim of fostering the combination of their flexibility with a bottom-up approach for providing services to the DSO. The access to the VAE is granted by the energy gateway, an electronic device that every single prosumer of the DEMAND community needs to connect the local Energy Management System (L-EMS) to the cloud EMS (C-EMS), send monitoring data, promise the participation in a DR action and to receive the optimization plan of the local flexible resources. Figures 1 and 2 show, respectively, the layout of the system installed at a prosumer's facility and the interactions between the L-EMS in the energy gateway, the related C-EMS in the Cloud and the VAE. From the software point of view, the DEMAND system consists of three elements: the L-EMS (which constitutes the energy gateway together with the physical gateway that interfaces with the user's devices to collect data and to send actuation commands), the remote C-EMS and the platform that facilitates the aggregation of users that is the VAE.