Distributed control of distributed energy resources

Summary

This project investigates possible agent-based distributed control hierarchies to enable efficient control and aggregation of large numbers of distributed energy resources.

Supervisor(s)

Dr Gregor Verbic

Research Location

Electrical and Information Engineering

Program Type

Masters/PHD

Synopsis

The operation of a traditional electric power systems is based on the production of electric energy in large centralized power plants, usually located away from load centres. As a result, the control algorithms are predominantly "central" so they need information on the operation of all the underlying devices. The increased penetration of distributed energy resources will render the conventional centralized control approach impossible to handle. The control will need to be distributed so as to reduce the amount of information exchange. The aim of the project is to use multi-agent systems to enable scalability of the control by distributing control actions. The project will also investigate the optimal hierarchical scheme, aiming to satisfy the conflicting objectives of limiting the amount of information exchange between the various agents and the complexity of the control algorithm.

Keywords

Distributed energy resources, distributed control, multi-agent systems, intelligent agents, system support, smart grids.

Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 1274

Other opportunities with Dr Gregor Verbic

• Participation of distributed energy resources in system support
• The impact of the increased integration of electric vehicles on the power reserve requirements
• Use of thermal masses as virtual energy storage
• Smart House Energy Management System
• Participation of Wind Generation in Frequency Control
• Future Generation and Grid Planning
• Demand-side Power Network Control
• Modelling and Stability of Power Networks with Renewable Generation