1 - Energy transformation and decentralization in future power systems

Abstract

Future sustainable world will be realized when certain issues such as low-carbon generation, digitalization, and decentralization become a strategic proclamation of energy policy makers. This trend urges energy industries toward the deployment of disparate energy sources with considerable emphasis on renewables with decentralized nature. In such circumstances, future power systems will be faced with a great complexity, dimensionality, uncertainties, and curse of big data. Challenges in this environment have been the basis and motivation for this chapter and other chapters of the book. Traditional decision-making in power systems is done with a centralized approach, as this approach has faced many problems with the complexity of the network and the penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in present power industries. In such an environment, the utilization of decentralized decision-making (DDM) in future power systems to tackle far more sophisticated issues and problems will be an attractive and a relevant framework. In this chapter, first, a brief overview of energy trend in future is addressed and then in the remaining parts of the chapter, the DDM approach and its applications in future power systems are discussed. One of the issues that become more important with the expansion of DERs is the increase in information and the complexity of the network. Information security is another challenge in future power systems whereby entities are reluctant to share their information with users and as a result the decision-making process will face a high degree of complexity. Increased data in the system is another challenge for future power systems. Extracting and analyzing the required information is a time-consuming and complex process. All of these issues complicate future power systems, which necessitates addressing the concept of decentralized frameworks for future power systems. This chapter and particularly the book provide a comprehensive breakdown of the future power system contexts including applications of DDM approach in future power systems.