Integrating PowerWorld and MatLab for agent-based modeling and simulation of competitive electric power markets

The transition to agent-based competitive wholesale and retail markets for electric utilities around the world has been a difficult and controversial process. One of the difficulties that hindered the growth of a competitive power market is the absence of efficient computational tools to assist the design, analysis and operation of the power market. Although many commercial software packages have been developed for a broad study of an electric power system, these power system simulators are usually not designed in such a way that can be used for analysis and evaluation of an agent-based competitive power market. This paper investigates mathematical models associated with a competitive power market and how these models can be converted in such a way that makes it possible to use commercial power system software for agent-based modeling and simulation of a competitive power market. The paper also develops a mechanism to integrate PowerWorld and MatLab for combined optimal power dispatch and agent-based learning interactions. Finally, the paper demonstrates a case study for a competitive electric power system using the integrated software system.