Distributed cooperative voltage control based on curve-fitting in active distribution networks

This study investigates a hybrid hierarchical multi-agent system for distributed cooperative voltage control in active distribution networks. The hybrid hierarchical multi-agent system adopts on-load tap-changing (OLTC) agents for the distribution transformers and feeder control section (FCS) agents for the distributed generators (DGs). The objective is to minimize the voltage deviations over the network. The FCS agents also have the objective of minimizing reductions in DG power output. A least squares method is used for curve fitting to achieve the two objectives. The OLTC agent receives voltage information from the FCS agents to evaluate the state of the voltage in each feeder and the distribution network and cooperates with the FCS agents to control the voltage of the network. The FCS agents exchange the fitted curve parameters and basic information on the DGs with other agents to achieve the objectives. The effectiveness of the proposed distributed cooperative voltage control scheme is verified through simulations. Depending on the network voltages obtained by the OLTC agent, different operations are executed to prevent voltage limit violations and to minimize the voltage deviations and reductions in the DG power outputs.