Distributed Multi-Area Optimal Power Flow via Rotated Coordinate Descent Critical Region Exploration

We consider the problem of distributed optimal power flow (OPF) for multi-area electric power systems. A novel coordination scheme using a two-layered structure is proposed, referred to as the rotated coordinate descent critical region exploration (RCDCRE). RCDCRE can reduce coordination, keep privacy and ensure convergence by stitching coordinate descent and parametric programming using coordinate system rotation. Each entity residing in the lower level can independently update its boundary information and optimally solve its local OPF in an asynchronous fashion. The coordinator in the upper level is only activated to provide a rotation matrix when reaching a coordinatewise optimal point. The solution process does not require warm starts and can iterate from infeasible initial points using penalty-based formulations. The effectiveness of RCDCRE is verified based on IEEE 2-area 44-bus and 4-area 472-bus systems.