Reinforcement Learning Enabled Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading for Dairy Farms
This addresses energy cost and efficiency problems for dairy farms, but it is incremental as it applies existing reinforcement learning techniques to a specific domain.
The paper tackled the challenge of dynamic energy management in dairy farms by developing a reinforcement learning-based simulator for peer-to-peer energy trading, resulting in a 43% reduction in electricity expenses, a 42% decrease in peak demand, and a 1.91% increase in energy sales compared to baselines.
Farm businesses are increasingly adopting renewables to enhance energy efficiency and reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the grid. This shift aims to decrease dairy farms' dependence on traditional electricity grids by enabling the sale of surplus renewable energy in Peer-to-Peer markets. However, the dynamic nature of farm communities poses challenges, requiring specialized algorithms for P2P energy trading. To address this, the Multi-Agent Peer-to-Peer Dairy Farm Energy Simulator (MAPDES) has been developed, providing a platform to experiment with Reinforcement Learning techniques. The simulations demonstrate significant cost savings, including a 43% reduction in electricity expenses, a 42% decrease in peak demand, and a 1.91% increase in energy sales compared to baseline scenarios lacking peer-to-peer energy trading or renewable energy sources.