Overview, issues and prevention of energy theft in smart grids and virtual power plants in Indian context

Communication plays a key role in the effective management of virtual power plants (VPPs). For effective and stable operation of VPPs, a reliable, secure, and standardized communication infrastructure is required. In the literature, efforts were made to develop this based on industry standards, such as the IEC 60870-5-104, OpenADR 2.0b and IEC 61850. Due to its global acceptance and strong object-oriented information models, IEC 61850 standard-based communication is preferred for smart grid operations, including VPPs. However, communication models based on IEC 61850 present cybersecurity and scalability challenges. To address this issue, this paper presents an eXtensible Message Presence Protocol (XMPP)-based IEC 61850 communication for VPPs. Firstly, a full mapping of IEC 61850 messages for VPP energy management is carried out. Secondly, XMPP-based single- and multiple-domain communications are demonstrated. Finally, a federation concept has been added to facilitate communication in multi-domain communication networks. These models show that a standard communication model can be implemented with IEC 61850 and XMPP, not only for VPPs but other wide-area communication implementations in smart grids. This not only facilitates plug-and-play (PnP) with easy component additions but secures smart grid communication against cyber-attacks.

Download Full-text

Distributed Charging Prioritization Methodology Based on Evolutionary Computation and Virtual Power Plants to Integrate Electric Vehicle Fleets on Smart Grids

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12122402 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 2402 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

J.I. Guerrero ◽

Enrique Personal ◽

Antonio García ◽

Antonio Parejo ◽

Francisco Pérez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Algorithm ◽

Evolutionary Computation ◽

Electric Vehicle ◽

Smart Grids ◽

Power Plants ◽

Power Grid ◽

Virtual Power ◽

Increase Energy Efficiency ◽

Virtual Power Plants ◽

Evolution Control

Electric vehicle fleets and smart grids are two growing technologies. These technologies have provided new possibilities to reduce pollution and increase energy efficiency. In this sense, electric vehicles are used as mobile loads in the power grid. A distributed charging prioritization methodology is proposed in this paper. The solution is based on the concept of virtual power plants and the usage of evolutionary computation algorithms. Additionally, a comparison of several evolutionary algorithms—namely genetic algorithm, genetic algorithm with evolution control, particle swarm optimization, and hybrid solution—is shown, in order to evaluate the proposed architecture. The proposed solution is presented as a means to prevent overload of the power grid.

Download Full-text

Energy Management of Virtual Power Plant Considering Distributed Generation Sizing and Pricing

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app9142817 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (14) ◽

pp. 2817 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Masoud Maanavi ◽

Arsalan Najafi ◽

Radu Godina ◽

Mehrdad Mahmoudian ◽

Eduardo M. G. Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Energy Management ◽

Smart Grids ◽

Power Plants ◽

Virtual Power ◽

Virtual Power Plant ◽

Security Issues ◽

Network Availability ◽

Virtual Power Plants ◽

Efficient Vector

The energy management of virtual power plants faces some fundamental challenges that make it complicated compared to conventional power plants, such as uncertainty in production, consumption, energy price, and availability of network components. Continuous monitoring and scaling of network gain status, using smart grids provides valuable instantaneous information about network conditions such as production, consumption, power lines, and network availability. Therefore, by creating a bidirectional communication between the energy management system and the grid users such as producers or energy applicants, it will afford a suitable platform to develop more efficient vector of the virtual power plant. The paper is treated with optimal sizing of DG units and the price of their electricity sales to achieve security issues and other technical considerations in the system. The ultimate goal in this study to determine the active demand power required to increase system loading capability and to withstand disturbances. The effect of different types of DG units in simulations is considered and then the efficiency of each equipment such as converters, wind turbines, electrolyzers, etc., is achieved to minimize the total operation cost and losses, improve voltage profiles, and address other security issues and reliability. The simulations are done in three cases and compared with HOMER software to validate the ability of proposed model.

Download Full-text

Community energy meets smart grids: Reviewing goals, structure, and roles in Virtual Power Plants in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands

Energy Research & Social Science ◽

10.1016/j.erss.2019.101415 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 101415 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Luc F.M. van Summeren ◽

Anna J. Wieczorek ◽

Gunter J.T. Bombaerts ◽

Geert P.J. Verbong

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Smart Grids ◽

Power Plants ◽

Virtual Power ◽

Virtual Power Plants

Download Full-text

Particle Swarm Optimization in Virtual Power Plants with Cogeneration Systems

10.31224/osf.io/zfya9 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ariel SXToh

Keyword(s):

Particle Swarm Optimization ◽

Smart Grids ◽

Power Plants ◽

Mathematical Optimization ◽

Optimization Models ◽

Virtual Power ◽

Swarm Optimization ◽

Energy Networks ◽

Virtual Power Plants ◽

The Cost

SXT Ariel proposal and contribution to the COST Action TD1207 “Mathematical Optimization inthe Decision Support Systems for Efficient and Robust Energy Networks”, held at the same year 2016 affiliation at FCTUC, University of Coimbra, Portugal. With collaboration Professor Pedro S. Moura, ISR to share recent research and unveil new case studies concerning the use of optimization models to address the challenges arising in the evolution of energy networks to smart grids.

Download Full-text