Real-time Congestion Prevention in Modern Distribution Power Systems via Demand Response of Smart Homes

Modernization of distribution power systems is accompanied with 1) higher integration of wind turbine distributed generation (WTDG) and photovoltaic DG (PVDG) units as rooftop DGs or small power plants operated by private owners in de-regulated markets, 2) massive utilization of electric vehicles (EVs) in smart cities, and 3) extensive demand response (DR) services offered by smart homes. This paper proposes a systematic framework for modern distribution networks operation where DG aggregators (DGAGs), EV aggregators (EVAGs), and demand response aggregators (DRAGs) are motivated to contribute to real-time congestion prevention via greater local generation, flexible platform for charging schedule, and non-firm load curtailment, respectively. Moreover, a realistic mechanism is developed for microgrid operators (MGOs) to 1) relieve the system operator (SO) from the pressure of centralized congestion management and 2) optimally utilize the assets of each microgrid to prevent congestions in a decentralized manner. The performance of the proposed scheme is validated on an unbalanced distribution system containing 4 microgrids, 250 EVs, 31 WTDGs, 54 PVDGs, and 140 smart homes with DR contract.