A New Particle Swarm Optimization Based Strategy for the Economic Emission Dispatch Problem Including Wind Energy Sources

Power dispatch has become an important issue due to the high integration of Wind Power (WP) in power grids. Within this context, this paper presents a new Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based strategy for solving the stochastic Economic Emission Dispatch Problem (EEDP). This problem was solved considering several constraints such as power balance, generation limits, and Valve Point Loading Effects (VPLEs). The power balance constraint is described by a chance constraint to consider the impact of WP intermittency on the EEDP solution. In this study, the chance constraint represents the tolerance that the power balance constraint cannot meet. The suggested framework was successfully evaluated on a ten-unit system. The problem was solved for various threshold tolerances to study further the impact of WP penetration.

Demand Response Optimal Dispatch and Control of TCL and PEV Agents with Renewable Energies

Demand response (DR) flexible loads can provide fast regulation and ancillary services as reserve capacity in power systems. This paper proposes a demand response optimization dispatch control strategy for flexible thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) with stochastic renewable power injection. Firstly, a chance constraint look-ahead programming model is proposed to maximize the social welfare of both units and load agents, through which the optimal power scheduling for TCL/PEV agents can be obtained. Secondly, two demand response control algorithms for TCLs and PEVs are proposed, respectively, based on the aggregate control models of the load agents. The TCLs are controlled by its temperature setpoints and PEVs are controlled by its charging power such that the DR control objective can be fulfilled. It has been shown that the proposed dispatch and control strategy can coordinate the flexible load agents and the renewable power injection. Finally, the simulation results on a modified IEEE 39 bus system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed demand response strategy.

Non-Pharmaceutical Stochastic Optimal Control Strategies to Mitigate the COVID-19 Spread

This paper proposes a stochastic non-linear model predictive controller to support policy-makers in determining robust optimal non-pharmaceutical strategies to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic waves. First, a time-varying <i>SIRCQTHE</i> epidemiological model is defined to get predictions on the pandemic dynamics. A stochastic model predictive control problem is then formulated to select the necessary control actions (i.e., restrictions on the mobility for different socio-economic categories) to minimize the socio-economic costs. In particular, considering the uncertainty characterizing this decision-making process, we ensure that the capacity of the healthcare system is not violated in accordance with a chance constraint approach. The effectiveness of the presented method in properly supporting the definition of diversified non-pharmaceutical strategies for tackling the COVID-19 spread is tested on the network of Italian regions using real data. The proposed approach can be easily extended to cope with other countries' characteristics and different levels of the spatial scale.<br><br><div><br></div><div>Postprint accepted for pubblication in <i>IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering</i> (T-ASE)</div><div><br></div><div><b>How to cite</b>: P. Scarabaggio, R. Carli, G. Cavone, N. Epicoco and M. Dotoli, (2021) "Non-Pharmaceutical Stochastic Optimal Control Strategies to Mitigate the COVID-19 Spread," in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.</div><div><br></div><div>DOI: http://doi.org/10.1109/TASE.2021.3111338<br><br></div>

Chance-Constrained Optimization Dispatch and Demand Response Control of Thermostatically Controlled Loads and Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Demand response flexible loads can provide fast regulation and ancillary services as reserve capacity in power systems. This paper proposes a joint optimization dispatch control strategy for source-load system with stochastic renewable power injection and flexible thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Specifically, the optimization model is characterized by a chance constraint look-ahead programming to maximal the social welfare of both units and load agents. By solving the chance constraint optimization with sample average approximation (SAA) method, the optimal power scheduling for units and TCL/PEV agents can be obtained. Secondly, two demand response control algorithms for TCLs and PEVs are proposed respectively based on the aggregate control models of the load agents. The TCLs are controlled by its temperature setpoints and PEVs are controlled by its charging power such that the DR control objective can be fulfilled. The effectiveness of the proposed dispatch and control algorithm has been demonstrated by the simulation studies on a modified IEEE 39 bus system with a wind farm, a photovoltaic power station, two TCL agents and two PEV agents.