Consensus-Based Distributed Optimal Energy Management With Less Communication in a Microgrid

In this paper, to reduce required capacities for information exchanges in microgrids, a novel distributed event-based algorithm is proposed for optimal energy management in a microgrid. Aiming at optimally scheduling the energy supplier's generation, an objective function is formulated to minimize the total cost of maintaining the supply–demand balance with considering power losses. Regarding each participant as an agent, the proposed algorithm is implemented in a distributed manner based on a multiagent system framework. Therefore, each agent only exchanges information with its neighbors through a local network. Additionally, comparing with the periodical communication of sampled-data mechanisms, the adopted event-based scheme achieves satisfactory performance by using significantly less communication between participants. As a result, it further facilitates the development of networked microgrids. Furthermore, concerning the privacy of participants, the proposed algorithm is implemented without exposing owners’ private preferences. The effectiveness of the proposed distributed algorithm is validated through several simulation studies.