Overview of Multi-Agent Approach for Micro-Grid Energy Management

Intelligent Techniques for Ubiquity and Optimization, 2011

Energy and Power Engineering, 2013

This paper presents the operation of a Multi-agent system (MAS) for the control of a smart grid. The proposed Multi-agent system consists of seven types of agents: Single Smart Grid Controller (SGC), Load Agents (LAGs), a Wind Turbine Agent (WTAG), Photo-Voltaic Agents (PVAGs), a Micro-Hydro Turbine Agent (MHTAG), Diesel Agents (DGAGs) and a Battery Agent (BAG). In a smart grid LAGs act as consumers or buyers, WTAG, PVAGs, MHTAG & DGAGs acts as producers or sellers and BAG act as producer/consumer or seller/buyer. The paper demonstrates the use of a Multi-agent system to control the smart grid in a simulated environment. In order to validate the performance of the proposed system, it has been applied to a simple model system with different time zone i.e. day time and night time and when power is available from the grid and when there is power shedding. Simulation results show that the proposed Multi-agent system can perform the operation of the smart grid efficiently.

… and Exposition, 2009. …, 2009

The objective of this paper is to discuss the design and implementation of a multi-agent system that provides intelligence to a distributed smart grid -a smart grid located at a distribution level. A multi-agent application development will be discussed that involves agent specification, application analysis, application design and application realization. The message exchange in the proposed multi-agent system is designed to be compatible with an IP-based network (IP = Internet Protocol) which is based on the IEEE standard on Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agent (FIPA). The paper demonstrates the use of multi-agent systems to control a distributed smart grid in a simulated environment. The simulation results indicate that the proposed multi-agent system can facilitate the seamless transition from grid connected to an island mode when upstream outages are detected. This denotes the capability of a multi-agent system as a technology for managing the microgrid operation.

IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, 2015

 Abstract--This paper presents an intelligent control of a microgrid in both grid-connected and islanded modes using the multi-agent system (MAS) technique. This intelligent control consists of three levels. The first level is based on local droop control, the second level compensates power balance between the supply and the demand optimally, and third level is at the system level based on electricity market. An intelligent multi-agent system was developed and implemented based on foundation for intelligent physical agents (FIPA) standards by representing each major autonomous component in the microgrid as an intelligent software agent. The agents interact with each other for making their own decisions locally and optimally. The coordination among the agents ensures power quality, voltage and frequency of the microgrid by determining the set points that optimize the overall operation of the microgrid. The proposed control architecture and strategies for the real-time control of microgrids were analyzed in detail, and tested under various load conditions and different network configurations. The outcomes of the studies demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed control and strategies, as well as the capability of the multi-agent system technique for the operation of microgrids.

Energies

A microgrid can be defined as a grid of interconnected distributed energy resources, loads and energy storage systems. In microgrid systems containing renewable energy resources, the coordinated operation of distributed generation units is important to ensure the stability of the microgrid. A microgrid needs a successful control scheme to achieve its design goals. Undesirable situations such as distorted voltage profile and frequency fluctuations are significantly reduced by installing the appropriate hardware such as energy storage systems, and control strategies. The multi-agent system is one of the approaches used to control microgrids. The application of multi-agent systems in electric power systems is becoming popular because of their inherent benefits such as autonomy, responsiveness, and social ability. This study provides an overview of the agent concept and multi-agent systems, as well as reviews of recent research studies on multi-agent systems’ application in microgrid co...

This paper describes the implementation of Multi Agent System (MAS) for advanced distributed energy management of a solar micro-grid. We consider a grid connected solar micro-grid with two solar Photo Voltaic (PV) systems, and each system contains a local consumer, a solar PV system and a battery. First we measure the load patterns and solar power generated in the two solar units. Then we use Multi Agent System for advanced distributed energy management of solar micro-grid with smart grid frame work. The MAS is implemented in Java Agent Development Environment (JADE) for dynamic energy management, which considers the intermittent nature of solar power, randomness of load, dynamic pricing of grid and variation of critical loads and choose the best possible action every hour to stabilize and optimize the solar micro-grid. Furthermore, MAS increases the operational efficiency, due to decentralised approach and reduced timings. Thus MAS in solar micro-grid energy management leads to economic and environmental optimization. Simulated operation of solar generators and loads are studied by performing simulations under all possible agent objectives. The effectiveness of proposed MAS in distributed energy management of micro-grid is demonstrated in the outcome of the simulation studies. Keywords: Energy management, Automation, Multi Agent System, JADE, Solar Micro grid.

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing, 2017

The objective of this paper is to monitor and control a micro-grid model developed in MATLAB-Simulink through Multi Agent System (MAS) for autonomous and distributed energy management. Since MATLAB/Simulink is not compatible with parallel operations of MAS, MAS operating in Java Agent Development Environment (JADE) is linked with MATLAB/Simulink through Multi Agent Control using Simulink with Jade extension (MACSimJX). This allows the micro-grid system designed with Simulink to be controlled by MAS for realizing the advantages of MAS in distributed and decentralized microgrid systems. JADE agents receive environmental information through Simulink and they coordinate to take best possible action, which is reflected in MATLAB/Simulink simulations. After validation and performance evaluation through dynamic simulations, the operations of the agents at various scenarios are practically verified by using the Arduino microcontroller. These validation and verification moves MAS closer to Smartgrid applications and takes micro-grid automation to a new level.

Energy and Power Engineering, 2021

Microgrid systems are built to integrate a generation mix of solar and wind renewable energy resources that are generally intermittent in nature. This paper presents a novel decentralized multi-agent system to securely operate microgrids in real-time while maintaining generation, load balance. Agents provide a normal operation in a grid-connected mode and a contingency operation in an islanded mode for fault handling. Fault handling is especially critical in microgrid operation to simulate possible contingencies and microgrid outages in a real-world scenario. A robust agent design has been implemented using MATLAB-Simulink and Java Agent Development Framework technologies to simulate microgrids with load management and distributed generators control. The microgrid of the German Jordanian University has been used for simulation for Summer and Winter photovoltaic generation and load profiles. The results show agent capabilities to operate microgrid in real-time and its ability to coordinate and adjust generation and load. In a simulated fault incident, agents coordinate and adjust to a normal operation in 0.012 seconds, a negligible time for microgrid restoration. This clearly shows that the multi-agent system is a viable solution to operate MG in real-time.

Multi-Agent systems (MAS) consist of multiple intelligent agents that interact to solve problems that may be beyond the capabilities of a single agent or system. For many years, conceptual MAS designs and architectures have been proposed for applications in power systems and power engineering. With the increasing use and modeling of distributed energy resources for microgrid applications, MAS are well suited to manage the size and complexity of these energy systems. The purpose of this paper is to survey applications of MAS in the control and operation of microgrids. The paper will review MAS concepts, architectures, develop platforms and processes, provide example applications, and discuss limitations.

IECON 2010 - 36th Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2010

The electric grid is currently undergoing important changes: it is evolving from an entirely centralized structure to a decentralized one, mainly due to the massive development of distributed renewable energy sources. This evolution toward what we now call the smart grid requires new control methods. These methods must be able to withstand new requirements, such as the highly distributed nature of the grid, the ability to run in islanding mode, the intermittency of renewable energy sources or the limited bandwidth for communication.