Distributed supply–demand balancing and the physics of smart energy systems

This paper presents an overview of two different perspectives that we take to smart energy systems, both in the power and the gas grid. The first is taking a distributed optimal control point of view, applicable to a network of households with production devices, but also with demand side control, and with power-to-gas facilities. The expected future market structure is also considered. The second perspective considers the physics of the power grid, and the full order models that we can build. A port-Hamiltonian perspective is briefly considered, and some questions about the coupling of the two perspectives are raised.