VidyutVanika21: An Autonomous Intelligent Broker for Smart-grids

VidyutVanika21: An Autonomous Intelligent Broker for Smart-grids

Sanjay Chandlekar, Bala Suraj Pedasingu, Easwar Subramanian, Sanjay Bhat, Praveen Paruchuri, Sujit Gujar

Proceedings of the Thirty-First International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Main Track. Pages 158-164. https://doi.org/10.24963/ijcai.2022/23

An autonomous broker that liaises between retail customers and power-generating companies (GenCos) is essential for the smart grid ecosystem. The efficiency brought in by such brokers to the smart grid setup can be studied through a well-developed simulation environment. In this paper, we describe the design of one such energy broker called VidyutVanika21 (VV21) and analyze its performance using a simulation platform called PowerTAC (PowerTrading Agent Competition). Specifically, we discuss the retail (VV21–RM) and wholesale market (VV21–WM) modules of VV21 that help the broker achieve high net profits in a competitive setup. Supported by game-theoretic analysis, the VV21–RM designs tariff contracts that a) maintain a balanced portfolio of different types of customers; b) sustain an appropriate level of market share, and c) introduce surcharges on customers to reduce energy usage during peak demand times. The VV21–WM aims to reduce the cost of procurement by following the supply curve of the GenCo to identify its lowest ask for a particular auction which is then used to generate suitable bids. We further demonstrate the efficacy of the retail and wholesale strategies of VV21 in PowerTAC 2021 finals and through several controlled experiments.
Keywords:
Agent-based and Multi-agent Systems: Economic Paradigms, Auctions and Market-Based Systems
Agent-based and Multi-agent Systems: Applications