Optimal design of bilateral contracts for energy procurement

•A robust approach to the optimization of bilateral contracts in energy management.•The modeling of different layers of agents operation within a smart grid environment.•From the algorithmic viewpoint, the design of an algorithm that factors in long term information within a short term model.•The optimization tools provide information for both strategic planning and bilateral contract design.

In this paper, we consider the problem of optimizing the portfolio of an aggregator that interacts with the energy grid via bilateral contracts. The purpose of the contracts is to achieve the pointwise procurement of energy to the grid. The challenge raised by the coordination of scattered resources and the securing of obligations over the planning horizon is addressed through a twin-time scale model, where robust short term operational decisions are contingent on long term resource usage incentives that embed the full extent of contract specifications.