AI-Enabled Demand-Side Flexibility: Forecasting, Coordination and Market Participation

Dear Colleagues,

High penetrations of variable renewable energy are increasing the need for demand-side flexibility to maintain secure, economical, and resilient power system operation. Demand-side resources (DSRs), including controllable industrial loads, distributed energy storage, electric vehicles, and user-side distributed generation, are increasingly recognized as viable alternatives to conventional supply-side regulation. However, their large scale, heterogeneous characteristics, stochastic behavior, high dimensionality, and stringent real-time requirements pose substantial challenges to effective coordination and utilization. This Special Issue explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve the forecasting, coordination, and market participation of DSRs. It aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for researchers and practitioners to present theoretical advances, algorithmic innovations, and practical applications. Ultimately, this Special Issue seeks to accelerate the effective utilization of demand-side flexibility and support the development of a more flexible, resilient, and intelligent power system.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• AI for Advanced Load Forecasting and User Behavior Modeling
• Intelligent Aggregation and Virtual Power Plant Operation Strategies
• Deep Reinforcement Learning for Flexible Resource Scheduling
• AI-Driven Bidding Strategies and Market Participation for DSRs
• Smart Charging, V2G Integration, and EV Fleet Management
• “Computing-Power” Synergy and Flexible Management of Data Centers
• Demand Side Response and Interaction Mechanisms in Smart Grids
• Carbon-Aware Optimization and Low-Carbon Operation of DSRs
• Digital Twin and Big Data Analytics for Demand Side Management
• Cybersecurity, Privacy Protection, and Trustworthy AI in Energy Systems

Dr. Ge Chen
Dr. Changxu Jiang
Dr. Xihai Zhang
Dr. Chenghao Wu
Dr. Pengfei Su
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.