Reconfigurable Distribution Network for Managing Transactive Energy in a Multi-Microgrid System

As microgrids (MGs) interact with power distribution systems, the end-to-end transactive energy (TE) trading among MGs poses new challenges on operation and trading functions of distribution system operators (DSOs). This paper proposes a bi-level programming framework for the coordination of multi-MG energy TE trading and the operation of power distribution systems. The bi-level framework enables distributed TE trading decisions at the multi-MG level and effective market clearing decisions by coordinating MGs with DSO. At the lower level, MGs participate in a local TE trading market. The lower level will submit nodal equivalent loads to the DSO at the upper level, which applies a second-order cone programming (SOCP) to reconfigure the distribution network in respond to MG trading requirements. The updated topology is sent back to the lower level in an iterative process which will modify MGs’ electrical distances and corresponding power transfer costs. The second iterative process applies the Lagrangian relaxation at the lower level to represent the TE trading among MGs where Lagrangian multipliers denote TE price signals. Case studies considering the modified IEEE 33-bus show the effective applications of the proposed framework and algorithm.