A novel incremental cost consensus approach for distributed economic dispatch over directed communication topologies in a smart grid

This paper deals with the distributed economic dispatch problem (EDP) using incremental cost (IC) consensus approach for multiple distributed generators (DGs) integrated in a smart grid under supply-demand constraint. The communication topology between DGs has been considered as directed, and a novel communication scenario based on smart meters, global positioning system, and an existing graph (rather than a new communication topology for supply-demand balance) has been considered. It also relaxes the assumption of initial supply-demand balance for the consensus of ICs. Based on an additional feedback mechanism, it is shown that the consensus between incremental costs and tracking control of supply-demand in smart grid paradigm can be achieved by virtue of the proposed communication mechanism and the resultant coordination protocol. The proposed approach has been modified to cater for load/transmission system losses and measurement errors by formulating a modified EDP problem, with the addition of a parameter for compensation of losses and errors. In contrast to existing methods, the proposed distributed optimization approach via IC consensus is based on a directed communication topology, and it provides an efficient handling of supply-demand balance. In addition, novel distributed optimization methods for the conventional undirected graphs for a smart grid can be attained as a specific scenario to deal with the initial balance assumption of supply and demand. The proposed approach has been applied for distributed optimization in a smart grid and simulation results under different scenarios are provided.