21, rue d’Artois, F-75008 PARIS 152 BOLOGNA 2011

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Agent-based modelling of regenerative energy sources for an efficient

distribution power system design

J. KAYS, jan.kays@tu-dortmund.de
A. SEACK, andre.seack@tu-dortmund.de
C. REHTANZ, christian.rehtanz@tu-dortmund.de
Emil-Figge-Str. 70, 44227 Dortmund
TU Dortmund University
Germany

SUMMARY

The requirements of distribution power systems have changed and increased over the years.
Especially the growing percentage on the production of electric energy of decentralized power
feed-in has an impact on the load flow. Even today the classic top-down load flow is inverted
to bottom-up in cases of light load scenarios in combination with high feed-in of wind power.
High penetration of new types of loads, like heat pumps or electric vehicles, has apart from
the high power consumption an influence on the simultaneity level of the demanded load. The
regenerative power feed-in is requested by the government and supported by political
sponsorship. In contrast to this development the legal conditions demand a more and more
efficient structure and operation of the power systems.

The interdependences of the network participants at the network nodes are very complex and
require a new way of network planning and design to map them adequately. Today’s planning
process depends on certain assumptions and variational calculus to determine the impact of
the loads and regenerative power feed-in on the distribution power system. It is based on
scenarios with high loading or high feed-in to estimate the necessary network upgrades. This
way of planning lacks in consideration of the interdependences, e.g. the behaviour of
combined heating and power station against varying feed-in tariffs due to the volatile
behaviour of the prices at the power exchanges. A multi-agent based approach allows a more
specific planning process by using the possibility of more detailed descriptions of the
individual network participants. Each type of participant is modelled by a specific agent,
which reacts on the important input parameters and generates individual output parameters
that will be used by other agents. The individual agents are linked with probabilistic
dependencies. All agents combined to one system generate profiles of load and generation
with all their interdependencies and find a solution that is based on probabilities. Due to this
more accurate way of planning, e.g. with regard to new approaches of storage possibilities
with e-mobility and heat pumps, more volatile renewable energies can be integrated in the
power system planning process.

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KEYWORDS

Distribution grid planning, distribution grid optimisation, wind farm modelling, wind energy, multi
agent system, modelling of system components

INTRODUCTION

Renewable energies, feeding in the distribution power systems, have caused a change of the
direction of the vertical load flow in specific situations. To handle the consequences of these
drastic changes in the planning process, an accurate and detailed description of the renewable
energies is required. This paper demonstrates an agent based modelling of renewable energies
using the wind energy as an example. This example is very relevant today in several countries
like Germany, Denmark or Spain because of the huge amount of installed wind turbines and
this example is going to be even more relevant in the future with worldwide increasing
penetration of on- and offshore wind turbines.
The current state of the network planning process is no longer viable due to governmental
restrictions, requiring a demand oriented and efficient network. Missing acceptance in the
population for an increasing amount of power lines stimulates a more efficient use of the
existing electric equipment.
Today’s planning methods create a network that is built for worst case scenarios like
maximum regenerative feed-in while having a minimal loading or vice a versa and could cope
with almost any situation but can be highly inefficient when probabilities of these worst case
scenarios are taken into account. Figure 1 demonstrates that the maximal wind energy feed-in
is a very rare situation. This rare feed-in could furthermore be negated by a high local load in
the according timeframe.

0,006

0,005

0,004
Probability

0,003

0,002

0,001

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Wind power feed-in [GW]
Figure 1: Probability distribution of wind power feed-in in the German control area in 2010
(data from [1])

To improve the efficiency of the planning process, a detailed prediction of the network state at
any given time frame including probabilities of certain events is required. A solution for a
detailed model of the power system can be a bottom-up agent based approach to evolve a time
based simulation of the complete energy distribution system. This approach could solve the
current problems in network planning like the limited number of variances and no
consideration of dependencies and probabilities while advancing forward from the traditional
minimum and maximum approach with representative parameters to a time based series of
individual network states.

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In this paper first of all, the input and output parameters of the agent of an individual wind
turbine are discussed. Usually in practice, more than one wind turbine is installed near a grid
node. So furthermore the aggregation process of single agents and the correlations between
the input parameters is defined. This is necessary to reduce the amount of agents, which have
to be considered for the integration into the network planning process. The agent-based
approach even allows modelling additionally services like the adjustment of reactive power
feed-in. The calculated profile of generation constitutes a base for advanced network
development. The resulting realistic time series of generation and load support the network
planning process for distribution grids.

MULTI AGENT SYSTEM APPROACH

To implement a time based simulation system a detailed description of the network

participants in the energy sector is required. Besides surveillance and diagnostics, distributed
control or autonomous protection systems multi agent system approaches can also be used for
modelling and simulation in electric power systems [2].
The main benefit of a multi agent system for network planning purposes is the possibility to
break down the complex interactions of every network participant. Each participant and
equipment is represented by an individual agent and interacts with the other agents to predict
the network situation for every given time frame.
The author of [2] distinguishes between two main approaches to build an agent system, either
top-down or bottom-up. A bottom-up approach is chosen for the network planning system in
this paper, offering a high level of detail and flexibility but requiring detailed input
parameters such as the position and configuration of every wind turbine. If a lower level of
detail is required, the aggregation of agents in every layer can meet any demanded depth of
information content. Furthermore the approach offers the potential of extending the network
status prediction with future technologies such as electric vehicles to be modelled as
additional mobile loads or storage capacity in the system. Innovative market concepts for
consumer load adjustment and energy storage solutions can also be taken into account with an
agent based approach.
Required input parameters for the developed agent system are provided by a database for the
initialisation process. Every single agent refers to the database and receives a set of variables
and constant parameters. Agent-constants are initialized once and can be modified internally
if the topology changes during the simulation.
The paper presents an agent system with the main focus on the detailed modelling of wind
feed-in for the purpose of planning distribution networks, representing the concept of
modelling regenerative power plants. The modelling approach for a small distribution
network system is presented in Figure 2. Each element is described in the following.

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 Timestamp

Weather

Market

WT WT
Conventional
Wind farm Load
power plant
WT WT

Network
Figure 2 : Interaction of individual agents in the network planning process

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WIND TURBINE AGENT

Due to the chosen bottom-up modelling approach, the lowest level of the wind feed-in model
is a detailed model of each wind turbine connected to the network. Turbine specific
parameters are taken from an external database during the initialization process and copied
into internal state variables. The primary objective of the turbine agent is the calculation of
the maximal active power depending on the weather situation for every time frame and the
communication of the maximum possible power feed-in to the wind farm agent for the
aggregation process at each node. The necessary weather conditions and meteorological data
are requested from the weather agent and merged with local characteristics of each turbine.
The approach allows the consideration of probabilities for turbine specific maintenance work
and outages, creating the availability for every turbine in the current time frame. Calculation
results of every wind turbine agent in the system are communicated to the associated wind
farm agent.

WIND FARM AGENT

The data received from the individual turbine agents is accumulated to the maximum possible
wind farm active power feed-in for every time frame. The structure of the developed model is
shown in Figure 3. The agent gets the knowledge of its associated turbines from an external
database during the initialization process of the agent system. Additional parameters, like the
connection node of the wind farm, the information of the wind farm location or the reactive
power limits prescribed by the network operator, are also stored in this database.

• Number of wind turbines

• Connected node
Data- • Geographic information
• Reactive power limits
base
• …

voltage level
reactive power output
grid restrictions
max. active power output
maximum active power wind farm agent
real active power output
market price

Figure 3: Constants and variables for the wind farm agent

Besides the static data from the database, the agent handles several fluctuating parameters,
provided by other agents of the system (e.g. maximum active power of the affiliated wind
turbines). The wind farm agent analyses its input parameters and generates output parameters
by combining the input data with static data. Receiving a request from the network agent to
reduce the maximum active power of the wind farm at the connection node, the wind farm
agent analyses the request and calculates the necessary output to compromise the demand of
the network agent, its operating limit and objective function.
To design and predict future distribution grid scenarios, a variation of the objective function
of the wind farm is needed. In the context of network services future wind farms could be

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capable of local voltage control by additional reactive power feed-in or load flow control
under certain circumstances. The voltage control of the wind farm agent is implemented as an
optional function that can be activated and configured during the initialization process of the
agent system. If the nodal voltage for the wind farm leaves a predefined interval the wind
farm agent attempts to iteratively adjust the feed-in reactive power for the wind farm.
Simulating a real-time market it might also be useful to implement a response by the wind
farm agent to the current market price. It is conceivable, that a wind farm could stop the
power feed-in if the market agent communicates a negative market price in low load time
frames.

WEATHER AGENT

The weather forecast forms the basic input information for the presented agent system. It is
provided by the weather agent that has detailed background information about the weather
prediction according to the locations of single agents. The modelling of this weather agent is
very important, for covering the need of weather information for regenerative power plants.
Derived from a detailed weather model this agent creates time series for temperature, wind
speed and direction as well as solar radiation which are fundamental input variables for the
generation by means of wind energy, photovoltaic, solar thermal or for the calculation of heat
energy demand of households.

ADDITIONAL AGENTS

The electric energy demand is generated by the load agent via a standard load profile for
households. The load type can be defined during the initialization process of the agent
platform.
An agent for conventional power plants balances the generation and demand, if the load
exceeds the supply by the wind farms. Based on a merit order model the low priced plants are
used in favour. The amount of this resulting residual load and the required use of conventional
power plants influence the market agent generating a market price for the system. This again
influences the load and generation behaviour of the system and leads to an iterative process of
coordination between the system’s agents.

NETWORK AGENT

As shown in Figure 2 the agents of the wind farms, the conventional power plant and loads
provide the input variables for the network agent and its repetitive load flow calculations. The
required network parameters are provided by a database. Switching operations and outages
can be taken into account.
The prediction of the network state is simulated with time steps of 15 minutes. The network
agent evaluates the network situation with a load flow calculation and communicates the
resulting network constraints to relevant agents of the system. If any boundaries are violated,
the network agent recalculates the load flow with new input from those agents. When the
input variables of the network agent do not exceed a predefined band, the system has
converged and the network agent informs the timestamp agent. This agent goes a time step
further and informs the weather and load agent in turn.

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DISTRIBUTION GRID SCENARIO

A simple three node distribution grid scenario, shown in Figure 4, was used to demonstrate
the behaviour of the developed agent based approach. Especially the interactions of the wind
farm agents with their environment were considered in this test case. Table 1 shows some
important parameters of the scenario. Although the wind farm agents are able to react on
several changes in their environment, only their support to the local voltage control is
analysed in detail in this section. For reasons of clear results, the wind speed and the load time
series are simplified in this scenario to show the effects of the wind farm agents operations.
The given wind speed at the wind farms induces an active power feed-in of 120 MW of wind
farm 2 and 28 MW of wind farm 3. The reactive power feed-in depends on the local voltage
level at the connected nodes and is modelled according to the requirements of the German
Transmission Code [3].

Figure 4: Three node distribution grid scenario

Parameter
voltage level 110 kV
line length (Line 1, Line 2, Line 3) 50km, 80 km, 90 km
load 1 100 MW (constant)
load 2 0 – 140 MW
load 3 0 – 70 MW
wind speed at wind farm 2 8 m/s (constant)
wind speed at wind farm 3 10 m/s (constant)
wind turbines at wind farm 2 85
wind turbines at wind farm 3 15
Table 1: Parameters of the test scenario

In each 15 minutes time step the network agent executes several load flow calculations based
on the Newton-Raphson algorithm, respecting the actual load and the feed-in of the wind
farms. The results are communicated to the wind farm agents, which evaluate if any of the
boundaries that could be influenced by them are violated. The agents are also able to reduce
the active power feed-in to avoid line overloading besides the reactive power control. In this
scenario, the wind farm agents only control the local voltage level. The reaction on a certain
market price and load flow control mechanism are deactivated. If the voltage exceeds the
interval between 0.95 and 1.05 per unit, the wind farm agents communicate instructions to the
wind turbine agents to adjust their reactive power to the new conditions. The chart in Figure 5

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demonstrates the resulting behaviour of the wind farm agents. The voltage variation is caused
due to varying loads at the nodes 2 and 3 of the test grid. When the voltage curves are near the
dash-dotted lines, the wind farm agents start to react, e.g. around time step 50, the voltage at
node 2 increases up to nearly 1.05 per unit. The agent of wind farm 2 detects this increase and
initiates a reduction of the reactive power feed-in of the affiliated wind turbines. Even in the
case of sudden load decreases or increases after time step 85 the agents can manage the
reactive power according to the guidelines.

40 1,1
QWP2
Q_WP2 QWP3
Q_WP3 U2
U2 U3
U3
35 1,08

1,06
30
1,04
Reactive Power [MW]

25
1,02

Voltage [p.u.]
20
1
15
0,98
10
0,96
5
0,94

0 0,92

-5 0,9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (15 min steps)
Figure 5: Reactive power control of the wind farm agents in the distribution grid scenario

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Governmental conditions require a more efficient structure and demand oriented network. To
meet these requests, a detailed description of the network participants is required facing all
existing interdependencies.
This paper presents an approach of modelling the impact of wind energy generation in
distribution networks with an agent based simulation system. This system also allows for the
integration of (future) intelligent behaviour of network participants such as dynamic market
price reaction of households or voltage control for the regenerative energy feed-in as
presented in a test scenario. The presented voltage control function demonstrates a future
intelligent and autonomous operation of regenerative energy feed-ins, in particular wind
farms.
Future research will face the detailed description and modelling of further network
participants besides the already modelled wind turbine and wind farm. The analysis of the
generated time series will show the realistic loading of network elements and gives the
opportunity to reveal inefficiencies in the standard network planning methods.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] European Energy Exchange: http://www.transparency.eex.com/de/Information/info-

produkte, March 2011
[2] MCARTHUR SDJ, et al.: Multi-Agent Systems for Power Engineering Applications -
Part I: Concepts, Approaches, and Technical Challenges. IEEE Trans. Power Syst.
2007;22:1743-1752.
[3] VERBAND DER NETZBETREIBER - VDN - E.V. BEIM VDEW. Transmission Code
2007. 2007.