# A Methodology for Exploiting Smart Prosumers' Flexibility in a Bottom-Up Aggregation Process
## 6 Conclusions  
Alongside utility-scale BESS and other centralized solutions, DR and the aggregation of distributed resources is a very current research topic due to the need for power systems for solving the several issues caused by the unpredictability of RES and the increasing power peaks on lines and transformers. Nevertheless, many commercial solutions for the management of distributed resources do not provide distributed logic enabling multi-stakeholder collaboration, mainly because these solutions are designed for users whose power consumption/generation levels are already sufficient to guarantee significant effects on the network. All smaller users are excluded from the flexibility market because they are unable to induce effects on the grid simply by exploiting their limited flexibility. The DEMAND project creates an architecture enabling prosumers of any kind (residential, commercial and industrial) to work together, aggregating them in a coordinated and intelligent way, without the need for centralized control. The absence of a third-party aggregator allows simplifying the coordination issues and reducing the overall cost of the aggregation platform, allowing DSOs, TSOs and market operators to directly contact the end-users participating in the DEMAND project for exploiting their flexibility. In this framework, the paper described two main algorithms developed for the bottom-up aggregation process in the framework of the DEMAND project. In the first part, the paper described the different phases for the management of the prosumer's flexibility during the day-ahead operation and presented the algorithm for the management of this phase. In the second part, the algorithm for the bottom-up aggregation process and the selection of the winning offer were presented. The flexibility management algorithm allows for defining both the power variation offered by each end-user and the associated desired remuneration. Two case studies were presented considering a residential prosumer with and without PV and battery to show how the algorithm works. The two case studies show how the bids can be quite different depending on the devices that the prosumer can use for providing its flexibility and participating in the aggregation process, and on the classification of the end-user into \"active\" or \"passive\" categories defined by the Italian CEI Standard 0-21. Finally, some considerations on the performance of the aggregation process in the VAE were shown for different power variations requested by the DSO and different sizes of the prosumers' population. In all examined cases, the processing time was compatible with the scheduling needs of the DSO or a market participant. The DEMAND project ended in July 2020 with the conclusion of the experimental phase on three pilots and with promising results. Some details on the pilots were reported in [21]. In a future paper, the impact on the network of the aggregation process will be presented, together with the results of the cost-benefit analysis based on both the data collected from the pilots and the simulations performed considering the opportunities and threats of the emerging Italian flexibility market. **Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, D.A., M.C., M.G.I., M.M. and G.Z. ; methodology, D.A., M.G.I. and G.Z. ; software, M.C., M.M. and R.M. ; validation, D.A., L.M., M.C., R.M. and G.Z. ; formal analysis, L.M., M.G.I., R.M. and G.Z. ; data curation, L.M. and G.Z. ; writing--original draft preparation, D.A., M.C., R.M. and G.Z. ; writing--review and editing, D.A., L.M., M.C., M.G.I., M.M., R.M. and G.Z. ; supervision, D.A., M.G.I. and G.Z. ; project administration, D.A. and M.G.I. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. **Funding:** This research was funded by the National Research Project DEMAND (DistributEd MAN-agemen logics and Devices for electricity savings in active users installations) supported by the Italian Ministry for the Economic Development MISE--identification code: CCSEB_00093.