Genetic programming enabled evolution of control policies for dynamic stochastic optimal power flow

The optimal power flow (OPF) is one of the central optimization problems in power grid engineering, building an essential tool for numerous control as well as planning issues. Methods for solving the OPF that mainly treat steady-state situations have been studied extensively, ignoring uncertainties of system variables as well as their volatile behavior. While both the economical as well as well as technical importance of accurate control is high, especially for power flow control in dynamic and uncertain power systems, methods are needed that provide (near-) optimal actions quickly, eliminating issues on convergence speed or robustness of the optimization. This paper shows an approximate policy-based control approach where optimal actions are derived from policies that are learned offline, but that later provide quick and accurate control actions in volatile situations. These policies are evolved using genetic programming, where multiple and interdependent policies are learned synchronously with simulation-based optimization. Finally, an approach is available for learning fast and robust power flow control policies suitable to highly dynamic power systems such as smart electric grids.