Distribution network optimization for real-time generation & flexible demand management

The advent of flexible demand devices (e.g. electric vehicles or various household appliances), distributed generation, and small scale distributed storage has led to an increased interest in distribution network management applications. This is reflected in today's power systems literature, where a significant number of papers cover subjects such as generation and/or demand management, electric vehicle charging, voltage control devices setting, etc. The methods used are centralized or decentralized, handling continuous and/or discrete controls, approximate or fully mathematically proven, and incorporate a wide range of problem formulations. All these papers tackle aspects of the same problem, i.e. the close to real-time determination of operating set-points for all controllable devices available to a distribution network / microgrid operator, subject to network constraints. Yet a consensus regarding this problem's formulation and its connection with the transmission level energy management mechanisms has not yet been reached. In this work we review different aspects of the problem and propose an approach for its solution.