Low carbon operation of power systems is a key way to achieve the goal of energy power carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In order to promote the low carbon transition of energy and power and the coordinated and optimized operation of distributed energy sources in virtual power plants (VPP), this paper proposes a framework for collaborative utilization of pumped storage–carbon capture–power-to-gas (P2G) technologies. It also constructs a multi-time scale low carbon economic dispatch model for VPP to minimize the internal resource operation cost of VPP in each time period. During the intraday scheduling stage, the day-ahead scheduling results as the planned output and the energy flow is then dynamically corrected at a short-term resolution in the framework. This allows for the exploration of the low-carbon potential of each aggregation unit within the virtual power plant. The results of the simulation indicate that the strategy and model proposed in this paper can effectively encourage the consumption of renewable energy sources, promote the low-carbon operation of power system power, and serve as a valuable reference for the low-carbon economic operation of the power system.

In view of the carbon emission reduction and new energy consumption problems in the integrated energy system (IES), this paper, for the first time, combines power to gas (P2G) with liquid carbon dioxide energy storage (LCES) and takes demand response (DR) into account simultaneously to construct a new type of IES capacity configuration optimization model. Firstly, based on the operation characteristics and coupling features of various devices within the system, the IES model was constructed. Meanwhile, the electricity, heat, and cold DR models were, respectively, established according to price-based and incentive-based methods. Finally, a two-layer collaborative optimization configuration model was built, with the upper layer aiming to minimize the annual total cost of the system and the lower layer aiming to minimize the annual operation cost of the system. Through case studies, the effectiveness of the established model was verified, and the impacts of DR, P2G, and LCES on the system capacity configuration results, economic efficiency, and environmental friendliness were investigated. Additionally, the impact of natural gas prices on the system optimization results was studied. The results showed that considering LCES and P2G could reduce the cost of the IES by 7.26% and the carbon emissions of the system by 31.03%, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method and providing a feasible solution for IES capacity configuration.