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Forecast uncertainties pose a considerable challenge to the success of model predictive control (MPC) in buildings. Numerous possibilities for considering forecast uncertainties in MPCs are available, but an in-depth comparison is lacking. This paper compares two main approaches to consider uncertainties: robust and stochastic MPC. They are benchmarked against a deterministic MPC and an MPC with perfect forecast. The MPCs utilize a holistic building model to reflect modern smart homes that include photovoltaic power generation and storage, thermally controlled loads, and smart appliances. Real-world data are used to identify the thermal building model. The performance of the various controllers is investigated under three levels of uncertainty for two building models with different envelope performance. For the highly insulated building, the deterministic MPC achieves satisfactory thermal comfort when the forecast error is medium or low, but the thermal comfort is compromised for high forecast errors. In the poorly insulated building, thermal comfort is compromised at medium and high forecast errors. Compared to the deterministic MPC, the robust MPC increases the electricity cost by up to 4.5% and provides complete temperature constraint satisfaction while the stochastic MPC increases the electricity cost by less than 1% and fulfills the thermal comfort requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainties originating from electricity markets, renewable distributed generations (RDG) and multi-energy loads pose huge challenges to the optimal energy management of the integrated energy system (IES) in competitive electricity markets. This paper develops an energy management framework (EMF) with a two-stage process for IES strategic participation in electricity markets, which can coordinate the operation of IES to comply with the two-settlement mechanism of the day-ahead and real-time markets. The former stage incorporates the conditional value-at-risk to make day-ahead bidding decisions for risk aversion towards uncertainties introduced by the electricity market. The latter coordinates the day-ahead bidding electricity to implement energy dispatch of IES for real-time market participation. Furthermore, supply-demand balances are formulated into chance constraints in the day-ahead bidding while real-time energy dispatch is implemented based on rolling model predictive control in response to uncertainties due to RDG and multi-energy loads. The proposed EMF is extensively assessed through two case studies in the PJM and Guangdong electricity markets. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed EMF can effectively achieve day-ahead bidding of IES with risk aversion towards unexpected increases in operating costs caused by market uncertainties and determine the optimal operation scheme for its participation in the real-time market. • The energy management of IES for participating in electricity markets is explored. • A risk-averse day-ahead bidding strategy based on CVaR is developed for IES. • The rolling MPC is adopted for energy dispatch to participate in real-time market. • The uncertainties due to market, RDG and multi-energy loads are fully considered. • The proposed solution is assessed in the PJM and Guangdong electricity markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The study proposes an advanced control structure in 3 layers aiming the optimal efficiency energy management for Grid-Connected Hybrid Power Plant. • The control structure is based on a Stochastic Model Predictive Control and an optimal finite-state machine to take into account disturbances variations. • Disturbance estimation techniques based on of NAR Neural Networks are applied to have prediction of renewable sources. • The studied control method is compared, through simulation, to a deterministic MPC approach to illustrate an improved performance. Abstract This study presents a complete advanced control structure aimed at the optimal and most efficient energy management for a Grid-Connected Hybrid Power plant. This control scheme is composed of process supervision and process control layers, and it is a possible technology to enable improvements in the energy consumption of industrial systems subject to constraints and process demands. The proposed structure consists of the combination of a Model-Based Predictive Controller, formulated within the Chance Constraints framework to deal with stochastic disturbances (renewable sources, as solar irradiance), an optimal finite-state machine decision system and the use of disturbance estimation techniques for the prediction of renewable sources. The predictive controller uses feedforward compensation of estimated future disturbances, obtained by the use of Nonlinear Auto-Regressive Neural Networks with time delays. The proposed controller aims to perform the management of which energy system to use and to decide where to store energy between multiple storage options. This has to be done while always maximizing the use of renewable energy and optimizing energy generation due to contract rules (maintain maximal economic profit). The proposed method is applied to a case study of energy generation in a sugar cane power plant, with non-dispatchable renewable sources (such as photovoltaic and wind power generation), as well as dispatchable sources (as biomass and biogas). This hybrid power system is subject to operational constraints, as to produce steam in different pressures, sustain internal demands and, imperiously, produce and maintain an amount of electric power throughout each month, defined by strict contract rules with a local Distribution Network Operator (DNO). This paper aims to justify the use of this novel approach to optimal energy generation in hybrid microgrids through simulation, illustrating the performance improvement for different cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic model predictive control (SMPC) provides a probabilistic framework for MPC of systems with stochastic uncertainty. A key feature of SMPC is the inclusion of chance constraints, which enables a systematic trade-off between attainable control performance and probability of state constraint violations in a stochastic setting. This paper presents an overview of core concepts in SMPC in relation to MPC and stochastic optimal control, with numerical illustrations on a typical chemical process. Estimation of stochastic disturbances as well as the impact of estimation quality of stochastic disturbances on the SMPC performance are discussed. Some avenues for future research in SMPC are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric energy generation from renewable energy sources is generally non-dispatchable due to its intrinsic volatility. Therefore, its integration into electricity markets and in power system operation is often based on volatility-compensating energy storage systems. Scheduling and control of this kind of coupled systems is usually based on hierarchical control and optimization. On the upper level, one solves an optimization problem to compute a dispatch schedule and a coherent allocation of energy reserves. On the lower level, one performs online adjustments of the dispatch schedule using, for example, model predictive control. In the present paper, we propose a formulation of the upper level optimization based on data-driven probabilistic forecasts of the power and energy output of the uncontrollable loads and generators dependent on renewable energy sources. Specifically, relying on probabilistic forecasts of both power and energy profiles of the uncertain demand/generation, we propose a novel framework to ensure the online feasibility of the dispatch schedule with a given security level. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is illustrated by simulations based on real household production and consumption data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper designs a model predictive control (MPC) law for constrained linear systems with stochastic additive disturbances and noisy measurements, minimising a discounted cost subject to a discounted expectation constraint. It is assumed that sensor data is lost with a known probability. Taking into account the data losses modelled by a Bernoulli process, we parameterise the predicted control policy as an affine function of future observations and obtain a convex linear-quadratic optimal control problem. Constraint satisfaction and a discounted cost bound are ensured without imposing bounds on the distributions of the disturbance and noise inputs. In addition, the average long-run undiscounted closed loop cost is shown to be finite if the discount factor takes appropriate values. We analyse robustness of the proposed control law with respect to possible uncertainties in the arrival probability of sensor data and we bound the impact of these uncertainties on constraint satisfaction and the discounted cost. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]