Distributed Multi-Building Coordination for Demand Response

TL;DR

This paper introduces a distributed optimization algorithm for multi-building demand response coordination, enhancing voltage stability and energy cost management through a hierarchical control framework.

Contribution

It develops a novel distributed convex optimization approach using a variant of ALADIN with convergence guarantees, tailored for multi-building demand response systems.

Findings

ALADIN outperforms ADMM in convergence speed and solution accuracy

The proposed method effectively balances voltage and energy costs in simulations

Distributed control improves demand response efficiency in multi-building networks

Abstract

This paper presents a distributed optimization algorithm tailored for solving optimal control problems arising in multi-building coordination. The buildings coordinated by a grid operator, join a demand response program to balance the voltage surge by using an energy cost defined criterion. In order to model the hierarchical structure of the building network, we formulate a distributed convex optimization problem with separable objectives and coupled affine equality constraints. A variant of the Augmented Lagrangian based Alternating Direction Inexact Newton (ALADIN) method for solving the considered class of problems is then presented along with a convergence guarantee. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we compare it to the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) by running both an ALADIN and an ADMM based model predictive controller on a benchmark case study.