A multi-agent based modeling of real-time global optimal reactive power dispatch

Abstract

In order to realize real-time global optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) of power systems, this paper presents a model based on multi-agent systems (MAS) and adopts a coordinative optimization method to solve the problem. ORPD is concerned with the security and economy of operation of power systems. Its objective is to allocate reactive power generation so that the transmission power losses are minimized and the voltage stability margin is maximized, while satisfying numbers of equality and inequality constraints. The problem therefore is one of the combinatorial optimization problems involving multi-object, multi-uncertainty, multi-restriction, multi-extremum and non-linear characteristics mathematically. The main idea of MAS is to generate approximate solutions to very complex problems, such as ORPD, by distributing them to autonomous problem solvers (agents). These agents can solve local ORPD problems by themselves. By integrating them in a communication environment, they are able to find a solution for the global ORPD problem rapidly by cooperating with each other. The test results led to the conclusion that the proposed approach based on MAS has a well performance to fulfill real-time global ORPD of large-scale power systems.