Utilization of virtual buffer in local area grids for electricity storage in smart power systems

The term of smart electric power refers to utilization of information networks for the intelligent management of power systems. In particular, constraints in the physical layer may be compensated by capabilities uniquely offered by information technologies. This paper frames itself in the area of smart electric power systems, where information driven tools are utilized for implementing electricity storage through the use of demand anticipation. To that end, the notion of a virtual buffer is utilized as a mean to attain large scale electricity storage in local area grids. The proposed method is applied within the frame of the smart cities of the future where consumers will be able to lump and coordinate their consumption usage. Simulation results exhibit the potency of virtual buffer as a profound solution for electricity storage in local area grids. In particular, virtual buffer allows changes in electricity consumption of users, while retaining the aggregated cost of consumers, and minimizing the deviation from initial scheduled power as low as possible.