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Artificial Intelligence Techniques for the Smart Grid

Article in Advances in Building Energy Research · January 2018

DOI: 10.1080/17512549.2017.1410362

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 Editorial for the ABER Special Issue on

“Artificial Intelligence Techniques for the Smart Grid”

by Nick Bassiliades and Georgios Chalkiadakis (Guest Editors)

In recent years, there is a rush in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research to produce practical
solutions for the Smart Grid, the anticipated new generation of energy (primarily electricity)
networks that will be able to make efficient use of renewable energy sources, support real time
and efficient demand response, as well as the large-scale deployment of electric vehicles (EVs).
AI techniques and methodologies can be instrumental in addressing sustainability problems,
for example to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the way we manage and allocate our
natural and societal resources. The drive to use AI for the Smart Grid has in turn led to novel
questions and challenges for AI research, and to the realization that only the cross-fertilization
of ideas and mixing of various techniques originating in different (sub-)fields can lead to the
Holy Grail of an electricity Grid that takes full advantage of AI technologies to deliver power
that is at the same time “green”, stable, affordable, and accessible to all. This Special Issue
brings together research questions and approaches originating in different (sub-)fields – such
as multiagent systems, machine learning, optimization, and statistics. As such, it provides an
overview of a broad spectrum of ongoing Smart Grid research.

To begin, going beyond traditional constant electricity pricing to more complex time of use
(ToU) or real-time pricing methods to increase efficiency in energy use, poses serious technical
and socio-political questions. With multiple pricing methods available, it is important for Grid
regulators, utility companies, and consumers to have the means to compare and even combine
such policies. Against this background, Chrysopoulos and Mitkas [1] introduce an optimization
methodology for individualized ToU pricing policies. Using a multi-objective particle swarm
optimization mechanism, the appropriate rates for each implemented pricing policy are
identified, leading to higher consumer acceptance rates, along with costs and peak load
reduction.

At the same time, as readers of this journal know very well, a central question in Smart Grid
research is modelling and analysing the energy consumption patterns of buildings. There are
two articles in this Special Issue on the topic. On the one hand, Karatzas and Katsifarakis [2]
employ neural networks, decision trees, and regression techniques to analyse and improve the
electricity consumption of household appliances. On the other hand, Alam and colleagues [3]
provide a methodical development of thermal models using Extended Kalman Filters for
parameter estimation, along with a case study using data from an actual family house.

Moving from individual house settings, Akasiadis and Georgogiannis [4] strive to improve the
effectiveness of schemes promoting the large-scale, coordinated shifting of power
consumption. In particular, they provide machine learning techniques - evaluated on real world
datasets encompassing thousands of users - to monitor, assess, and predict the trustworthiness
of individual entities participating in such demand-side management activities. Then, Kofinas
and colleagues [5] propose the use of reinforcement learning (RL), one of the three main
machine learning paradigms, to optimize the operation of a solar microgrid. To this end, they
present an RL automated agent that employs a “fuzzy” reward function to learn a policy
towards optimizing system performance.
 On a distinct issue of extremely high importance, the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) in
the Smart Grid - if accompanied with mature Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Grid-to-Vehicle
(G2V) technologies - is expected to have a significant impact on improving the “energy mix”
used for electricity generation, thus reducing carbon emissions. Ioakimidis and Genikomsakis
[6] employ a bottom-up optimization model generator to study the introduction of Plug-in
Hybrid EVs (PHEVs) in an isolated islands’ system in the Azores. The results obtained indicate
that the integration of PHEVs providing G2V services into the local Grid, can be realized
without immediate technical barriers.

Last but not least, Demertzis and colleagues [7] deal with a problem that, despite its
significance, is sometimes considered to be orthogonal to the Smart Grid problems usually
tackled by AI researchers: that of developing cyber-security solutions for the Smart Grid. The
paper presents a system that employs soft computing approaches to model the overall security
level, achieves a high level of automation for Smart Grid security strategic planning, and
effective decision-making in the face of cyber-threats.

Before concluding this note, we have to mention that this Special Issue was the result of an
open call for papers on its topic. Its origins, however, lie on the Artificial Intelligence for the
Smart Grid (AI4SG) workshop that was held in conjunction with the 9th Hellenic Conference
on Artificial Intelligence (SETN-16), in May 2016, at Thessaloniki, Greece. Most papers in
this Special Issue are extended versions of the best papers that appeared in AI4SG.

Many individuals contributed to the success of this issue. We take this opportunity to thank all
the authors for their submissions. We are also indebted to a small army of referees who have
put in the hard work and the long hours to review each paper in a timely and professional way.
Furthermore, we are grateful to Mr. Emmanouil Rigas for his invaluable help with the
organization of the AI4SG workshop and the dissemination of the call for papers for this
Special Issue. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation to Professor Denia Kolokotsa,
former editor-in-chief of ABER and staff members of ABER for offering us the opportunity to
edit this stimulating Special Issue. We really hope that the readers of this issue will find the
articles interesting and inspiring.

The Guest Editors

References
[1] Chrysopoulos A. & Mitkas P. A., “Customized time-of-use pricing for small-scale
consumers using multi-objective particle swarm optimization”
[2] Karatzas Kostas & Katsifarakis Nikos, “Modelling of household electricity
consumption with the aid of computational intelligence methods”
[3] Alam Muddasser, Rogers Alex, Scott James, Ali Kamran & Auffenberg Frederik,
“Applying extended Kalman filters to adaptive thermal modelling in homes”
[4] Akasiadis Charilaos & Georgogiannis Alexandros, “Predicting agent performance in
large-scale electricity demand shifting”
[5] Kofinas Panagiotis, Vouros George & Dounis Anastasios I., “Energy management in
solar microgrid via reinforcement learning using fuzzy reward”
[6] Ioakimidis Christos S. & Genikomsakis Konstantinos N., “Introduction of plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles in an isolated island system”
[7] Demertzis Konstantinos, Iliadis Lazaros S. & Anezakis Vardis-Dimitrios, “An
innovative soft computing system for smart energy grids cybersecurity”

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