Hierarchical Distributed Energy Management Framework for Multiple Greenhouses Considering Demand Response

Abstract

Greenhouses are a key component of modernised agriculture, aiming for producing high-quality crops and plants. Furthermore, a network of greenhouses has enormous potential as part of demand response programs. Saving energy during off-peak time, reducing power consumption and delaying the start time of subsystems during on-peak time are some strategies that can be used to limit power exchanged with the main grid. In this work, a hierarchical distributed alternating direction method of multipliers-based model predictive control framework is proposed that has two main objectives: 1) providing appropriate conditions for greenhouses' crops and plants to grow, and 2) limiting the total power exchanged with the main grid. At each time step in the framework, an aggregator coordinates the greenhouses to reach a consensus and limit the total electric power exchanged while managing shared resources, e.g., reservoir water. The proposed framework's performance is investigated through a case study.