Using optimal power flow for management of power flows in active distribution networks within thermal constraints

The Autonomous Regional Active Network Management System (AuRA-NMS) research consortium is investigating real time control algorithms for voltage control, power flow management (PFM) and restoration. The functionality offered by this developmental distributed control architecture meets the requirements of being a robust `plug and play' platform that must be safe, secure and have the ability to be flexible and extensible. Ongoing work has been investigating and comparing novel and existing control techniques for real-time power flow management which includes a current tracing method, a constraint programming approach and an optimal power flow (OPF) technique. This paper will discuss the properties of OPF and how these properties can be adapted, augmented and applied in a real time environment for solving distribution network power flow constraint problems using, in essence, real-time information available for normally non-dispatchable renewable generation. Proposed OPF problem formulations and case studies will be used to show how research undertaken to date will be taken forward to development and demonstration of the OPF algorithms for power flow constraint management.