Network-based distributed direct load control guaranteeing fair welfare maximisation

Abstract

This study examines a distributed direct load control (DLC) problem for maximising customer welfare in a power system for the network communication of energy management controllers (EMCs). A model is first built to describe the dynamics and communication intervals of the EMCs with a distributed and uniform controller. The controller conditions are then derived to stabilise the system and to converge the power imbalance to zero at an assigned rate. The control condition that maximises customer welfare is then found. Furthermore, an optimal controller that maximises customer welfare over a given network communication is proposed, and the performance degradation caused by distributed management is evaluated. This study reveals that even though moving from a centralised to a distributed DLC can degrade customer welfare, this degradation can be reduced by considering consumer properties and network topologies of the EMCs. Numerical examples with real consumption data are also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019