GridIQ - A Test Bed for Smart Grid Agents

The power industry is facing new challenges due to escalating demand and environmental issues such as climate change. The application of information technology to power systems to create intelligent electricity networks, labelled smart grids, has been proposed as a means to address these issues. Agent-based systems have been identified as a suitable paradigm for developing software for smart grids. Tools used by researchers and practitioners developing smart grid systems include agent platforms and power system simulations tools, yet no open source tool currently exists which enables these tools to inter-operate. This research describes the development of GridIQ, an open source software system which enables agents executing in an agent platform to interact with devices in a power simulation tool during simulation, providing a test bed for smart grid agents. The JADE agent platform and the PSAT power simulation tool were selected as the external tools supported by GridIQ. The architecture and behaviour of the system are presented, as well as the management and development processes adopted. An example scenario is also described which demonstrates the GridIQ system successfully enabling JADE agents to monitor and control devices in a PSAT network during simulation.

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