Multi-agent reinforcement learning for active voltage control on power distribution networks

Jianhong Wang, Wangkun Xu, Yunjie Gu, Wenbin Song, Tim C Green

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingChapter in a published conference proceeding

71 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

This paper presents a problem in power networks that creates an exciting and yet challenging real-world scenario for application of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). The emerging trend of decarbonisation is placing excessive stress on power distribution networks. Active voltage control is seen as a promising solution to relieve power congestion and improve voltage quality without extra hardware investment, taking advantage of the controllable apparatuses in the network, such as roof-top photovoltaics (PVs) and static var compensators (SVCs). These controllable apparatuses appear in a vast number and are distributed in a wide geographic area, making MARL a natural candidate. This paper formulates the active voltage control problem in the framework of Dec-POMDP and establishes an open-source environment. It aims to bridge the gap between the power community and the MARL community and be a drive force towards real-world applications of MARL algorithms. Finally, we analyse the special characteristics of the active voltage control problems that cause challenges (e.g. interpretability) for state-of-the-art MARL approaches, and summarise the potential directions. © 2021 Neural information processing systems foundation
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Neural Information Processing Systems 34 (NeurIPS 2021)
Pages3271-3284
Number of pages14
Volume34
ISBN (Electronic)9781713845393
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2021

Publication series

NameAdvances in Neural Information Processing Systems
PublisherMIT Press
ISSN (Print)1049-5258

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