An Incentive-Based Online Optimization Framework for Distribution Grids
For distribution grid operators and DER owners, this work provides an online framework to jointly optimize economic objectives and voltage regulation under time-varying conditions, though it is an incremental extension of existing distributed optimization methods.
This paper develops an online distributed algorithm for tracking time-varying solutions of a social-welfare maximization problem in distribution grids with DERs, using real-time voltage measurements to generate incentive signals that guide DERs to adjust power while maintaining voltage constraints. The algorithm's stability is analytically proven and numerically validated.
This paper formulates a time-varying social-welfare maximization problem for distribution grids with distributed energy resources (DERs) and develops online distributed algorithms to identify (and track) its solutions. In the considered setting, network operator and DER-owners pursue given operational and economic objectives, while concurrently ensuring that voltages are within prescribed limits. The proposed algorithm affords an online implementation to enable tracking of the solutions in the presence of time-varying operational conditions and changing optimization objectives. It involves a strategy where the network operator collects voltage measurements throughout the feeder to build incentive signals for the DER-owners in real time; DERs then adjust the generated/consumed powers in order to avoid the violation of the voltage constraints while maximizing given objectives. The stability of the proposed schemes is analytically established and numerically corroborated.