Methods for the management of distributed electricity networks using software agents and market mechanisms: A survey

• Control of Distributed Electricity Networks (DEN) can be based on market principles.
• The characteristics that must satisfy these markets are described and discussed.
• A description of the works that propose market-based DEN's management is provided.
• A discussion of the works’ suitability, drawbacks and performance is provided.
• The most promising lines of work for market-based DEN's management are identified.

Significant research efforts are being devoted to the development of distributed electricity networks that aim to facilitate the gradual integration of manageable loads and distributed energy resources. These environments are conceived as self-managed, enclosed areas of the distribution network that integrates many of the technologies and information systems that will be part of the future Smart Grid. Both the new scheme and devices are expected to offer users presence in the grid operation so that their preferences and interests are relevant. To this end, the management system has been frequently proposed in form of an electronic market in which producers and consumers exchange energy blocks so that the consumption and production are continuously balanced. As the state of the art reflects, intelligent agents are an suitable technology for building energy management systems in which users participate actively in an intelligent and autonomous manner. This document presents a review of the most relevant works that tackle the safe and effective management of distributed electricity networks through autonomous software agents that negotiate on behalf of customers. This document presents a discussion of the suitability of the most relevant works, highlighting those that are most promising, and identifying the issues that are still necessary to reinforce in future research.