A novel architecture for real-time operation of multi-agent based coordination of demand and supply

The PowerMatcher concept developed at ECN has proven its value in the coordination of demand and supply of electricity in different settings with respect to distributed generation and accommodation of renewable energy resources. The concept has been applied in several field tests and simulations at various levels in the power system. The agent based technology on which the PowerMatcher is built has a number of advantages above other approaches such as the flexibility of the concept to accommodate a large variety of business scenarios, the autonomy of the agents, the standardization of communication through bids and allocation, the hiding of process information, etc. Yet the field tests also have identified a number of enhancements that may lead to improved behavior of the PowerMatcher in real life circumstances. Also discussions within the power system agent community as laid down in two white papers from the IEEE Multi-Agent Systems Working Group have convinced us to focus on an architecture that enables close cooperation with other research groups in order to gain momentum for real applications. This paper will introduce a number of requirements for the next phase of development that enable the PowerMatcher to cope with new, future scenarios. The requirements lead to a number of architectural decisions that will support a more open software development trajectory.