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Recent studies show that the fast growing expansion of wind power generation may lead to extremely high levels of price volatility in wholesale electricity markets. Storage technologies, regardless of their specific forms, e.g., pump-storage hydro, large-scale, or distributed batteries, are capable of alleviating the extreme price volatility levels due to their energy usage time shifting, fast-ramping, and price arbitrage capabilities. In this paper, we propose a stochastic bilevel optimization model to find the optimal nodal storage capacities required to achieve a certain price volatility level in a highly volatile energy-only electricity market. The decision on storage capacities is made in the upper level problem and the operation of strategic/regulated generation, storage, and transmission players is modeled in the lower level problem using an extended stochastic (Bayesian) Cournot-based game. The South Australia (SA) electricity market, which has recently experienced high levels of price volatility, and a 30-bus IEEE system are considered as the case studies. Our numerical results indicate that 50% price volatility reduction in the SA electricity market can be achieved by installing either 430-MWh regulated storage or 530-MWh strategic storage. In other words, regulated storage firms are more efficient in reducing the price volatility than strategic storage firms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increasing uptake of electric vehicles suggests that vehicle charging will have a significant impact on the electricity grid. Finding ways to shift this charging to off-peak periods has been recognized as a key challenge for integration of electric vehicles into the electricity grid on a large scale. In this paper, electric vehicle charging is formulated as a receding horizon optimization problem that takes into account the present and anticipated constraints of the distribution network over a finite charging horizon. The constraint set includes transformer and line limitations, phase unbalance, and voltage stability within the network. By using a linear approximation of voltage drop within the network, the problem solution may be computed repeatedly in near real time, and thereby take into account the dynamic nature of changing demand and vehicle arrival and departure. It is shown that this linear approximation of the network constraints is quick to compute, while still ensuring that network constraints are respected. The approach is demonstrated on a validated model of a real network via simulations that use real vehicle travel profiles and real demand data. Using the optimal charging method, high percentages of vehicle uptake can be sustained in existing networks without requiring any further network upgrades, leading to more efficient use of existing assets and savings for the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In many real world problems, optimisation decisions have to be made with limited information. The decision maker may have no a priori or posteriori data about the often nonconvex objective function except from on a limited number of data points. The scarcity of data may be due to high cost of observation or fast-changing nature of the underlying system. This paper presents a 'black-box' optimisation framework that takes into account the information collection, estimation, and optimisation aspects in a holistic and structured manner. Explicitly quantifying the observations at each optimisation step using the entropy measure from information theory, the often nonconvex-objective function to be optimised is modelled and estimated by adopting a Bayesian approach and using Gaussian processes as a state-of-the-art regression method. The resulting iterative scheme allows the decision maker to address the problem by expressing preferences for each aspect quantitatively and concurrently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the possibility of having convex or concave formulations of optimization problems for interference coupled wireless systems. An axiomatic framework for interference functions proposed by Yates in 1995 is used to model interference coupling in our paper. The paper shows that under certain natural assumptions, the exponential transformation is the unique transformation (up to a positive constant) for “convexification” of resource allocation problems for linear interference functions. Furthermore, it is shown that under certain intuitive assumptions, it is sufficient to check for the joint concavity (convexity) of sum of weighted functions of SINR (inverse SINR) with respect to s (p=e^s, where p is the power vector of the users), if we would like the resulting resource allocation problem to be concave (convex). This paper characterizes the largest class of utility functions and the largest class of interference functions (respectively), which allow a convex and concave formulation of a problem for interference coupled wireless systems. It extends previous literature on log-convex interference functions and provides boundaries on the class of problems in wireless systems, which can be algorithmically tackled by convex optimization techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies a constrained optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) optimization problem in optical networks from the perspective of system performance. A system optimization problem is formulated with the objective of achieving an OSNR target for each channel while satisfying the total power constraint. In order to establish existence of a unique optimal solution, the conditions are derived, which can be used as a basis for an admission control scheme. The original problem is then converted to a relaxed system problem by using a barrier function and solved by a distributed iterative algorithm. Next, the system optimization framework developed is compared to the game theoretic one in [1]. The effects of parameters in both formulations are investigated to study efficiency of Nash equilibria in the OSNR game and pricing mechanisms affecting overall system performance. The theoretical analysis is supported by numerical simulations and experiments conducted on an optical fiber link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper studies the optimization of malicious software removal or patch deployment processes across multiple networks. The well-known classical epidemic model is adapted to model malware propagation in this multi-network framework. The trade-off between the infection spread and the patching costs is captured in a cost function, leading to an optimal control problem. In the single network case the optimal feedback controller is found by solving an associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation. This control law is numerically compared to the proportional response strategy typically assumed by the epidemic model. In the higher dimensional multiple-networks case, the system is linearized to derive feedback controllers using pole-placement, linear quadratic regulator (LQR) optimal control, and optimal control, where the measurement errors in the number of infected clients are explicitly modeled. The resulting patching strategies are analyzed numerically and their results are compared. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]