A Decentralized and Cooperative Architecture for Optimal Voltage Regulation in Smart Grids

Optimal voltage regulation is one of the main issues to address in a Smart Grid context. In this domain, the application of traditional hierarchical control paradigms has some disadvantages that could hinder their application in Smart Grids where the constant growth of grid complexity and the need for massive pervasion of distribution generation systems require more scalable and more flexible control and regulation paradigms. To try and overcome these challenges, this paper proposes the concept of a decentralized nonhierarchal voltage regulation architecture based on intelligent and cooperative smart entities. This paper intends to bring two main contributions to the existing literature. The first is the definition of a decentralized architecture aimed at computing the actual value of the cost function and its gradient without the need of a central fusion center acquiring and processing all the sensor acquisitions. The second is the proposal of a distributed and cooperative optimization strategy aimed at identifying the optimal asset of the voltage controllers.