Decentralized Cooperative Optimal Power Flow of Multiple Interconnected Microgrids via Negotiation

The microgrid is widely recognized as a promising concept for integrating distributed energy resources (DERs). Considering the enormous number of DERs, the future smart grid will likely be a grid containing a number of interconnected microgrids. Thus, the optimal power flow (OPF) problem should be studied by properly taking account of the coupling between the microgrids. In this paper, the models of standalone microgrid and coupled microgrids are formulated first. Then, a decentralized approach is shown in detail to cooperatively solve the coupled OPF problem. Specifically, each microgrid solves the local OPF problem, leading to the optimal solution of the coupled OPF problem via negotiation between microgrids. The privacy of each microgrid is also preserved since no sensitive information is shared between microgrids. Finally, simulation results show that the optimality gaps between the proposed approach and an existing solver are small for both the AC OPF and the DC OPF. Furthermore, the total cost of the microgrids is reduced by the cooperative OPF.