Title: Negotiation and
Coalition Management in Multi-Agent Energy Markets (for Master or PhD candidates)
Objectives and description:
From the times of Leibniz and Babbage until the late 1950s, computation
was understood as calculation, or the manipulation of numbers.
Throughout the next decade (and still perhaps for many people),
computation came to be understood as information processing, or the
manipulation of data. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
expert systems, the idea arose of computation as cognition, or the
manipulation of concepts. With the growth of the Internet and the World
Wide Web, a new metaphor is appropriate: computation as interaction, or
the joint manipulation of concepts and actions by discrete entities,
called software agents.
Multi-agent systems (MAS) are systems composed of software agents that
interact to solve problems that are beyond the individual capabilities
of each agent. MAS represent a relatively new and rapidly expanding
area of research and development. The major motivations for the
increasing interest in MAS research include the ability to solve
problems in which data, expertise, or control is distributed, the
ability to allow inter-operation of existing legacy systems, and the
ability to enhance performance along the dimensions of computational
efficiency, reliability, and robustness. Agent technology has been used
to solve real-world problems in a range of industrial and commercial
applications.
The electrical power industry provides the production and delivery of
electricity to consumers through a power grid. Electricity is most
often produced at power stations, transmitted at high-voltages to
multiple substations near populated areas, and distributed at medium
and low-voltages to consumers. Clearly, the complexity of the power
grid and the potential cascading events combining natural and human
causes can lead to catastrophic failures.
Furthermore, the deregulation of the electricity industry has basically
separated the contestable functions of electricity generation and
retail from the natural monopoly functions of transmission and
distribution. This, in turn, has led to the establishment of several
complex markets, where competing generators can offer their electricity
output to retailers, and a retail market for electricity retailing,
where end-use customers can choose their supplier from competing
electricity retailers. These competitive markets and new renewable
energy sources have further complicated the already complex power
industry.
Intelligent software agents are a potentially powerful
computational tool to provide new solutions to practical power systems
engineering and energy market problems.
Accordingly, this work will be divided into four parts
* The first aims at modeling an energy market as a
multi-agent system.
* Part two aims at developing a new negotiation model for
autonomous agents. The model will be based on two-party multi-issue
negotiation. Customers will be able to interact with different
retailers, analyze and comment their offers, and eventually submit
counter-offers.
* Part three aims at developing autonomous agents able to form
coalitions to better achieve their objectives. In practice, coalitions
of customers involving a whole building, or even a district, are
desirable to achieve better energy prices.
* Part four aims at developing a (simplified) energy management
tool, i.e., a multi-agent energy market system, using JAVA and the JADE
framework (http://jade.tilab.com).
Note: In case of interest, the work could be done at LNEG
(www.lneg.pt). The institution could provide computer facilities and
office. Also, a dynamic and interdisciplinary team will provide any
necessary help. Furthermore, the team is working on FCT funded project:
PTDC/EEA-EEL/122988
Orientadores: Profs. Nuno David e Fernando Lopes
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