A Distributed Dynamic Programming-based Solution for Load Management in Smart Grids

摘要

Load management is being recognized as an important option for active userparticipation in the energy market. Traditional load management methods usuallyrequire a centralized powerful control center and a two-way communicationnetwork between the system operators and energy end-users. The increasing userparticipation in smart grids may limit their applications. In this paper, adistributed solution for load management in emerging smart grids is proposed.The load management problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problemaiming at maximizing the overall utility of users while meeting the requirementfor load reduction requested by the system operator, and is solved by using adistributed dynamic programming algorithm. The algorithm is implemented via adistributed framework and thus can deliver a highly desired distributedsolution. It avoids the required use of a centralized coordinator or controlcenter, and can achieve satisfactory outcomes for load management. Simulationresults with various test systems demonstrate its effectiveness.