Autonomous Self-Healing in Smart Distribution Grids Using agent Systems

When a fault occurs on a distribution system, it should be isolated. After isolation, the distribution system can be reconfigured to restore the out-of-service area. The distribution system configuration can be changed by performing switching actions on the feeders. This paper proposes an agent-based approach for service restoration in smart distribution systems. The proposed multiagent approach has three different types of agents, namely, feeder agents, zone agents, and switch agents. The agents can communicate and cooperate with each other in order to supply services to out-of-service customers. The restoration plan is built on the basis of local data considering system conditions, operational constraints, and the fault location. Different loading conditions have been considered under different scenarios, and the results of the proposed multiagent approach for each scenario have been compared. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed agent architecture.