Autonomous distributed coordination of fast power flow controllers in transmission networks

With the liberalization of the power markets the average distance between power generation and consumption increases which leads to an increase in utilization of certain transmission corridors connecting e.g. off-shore wind parks to areas of high demand (industrial and urban districts). Together with rising power demand and the integration of high-capacity unpredictable renewable resources (e.g. volatile wind power) these factors pose a challenge to today´s transmission networks. Operators have to guarantee a stable and efficient operation of the grid. One way to improve the stability and efficiency of the existing network - aside from expensive and most often very time-consuming reconstruction - is the integration of power flow controllers (PFCs) in order to dynamically redirect power flows away from critically loaded resources that may be threatened by an overload and thus (with the obvious drawback of higher transmission losses) accomplish a higher degree of available capacity utilization. In this paper we outline our current work on the development of a multi-agent-based real-time operation of PFCs that allows for an autonomous distributed coordination of fast power flow control actions across (international) control areas without the need for global information.