Challenges in Energy Management System for Wholesale, Retail, and Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading

Dear Colleagues,

It is difficult to imagine a modern and flexible power system without advanced energy management systems (EMSs). With the proliferation of renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, distributed energy resources (DERs), and intelligent demand-side technologies, the role of EMSs has rapidly expanded from conventional centralized scheduling to complex, multi-layered market coordination. The ongoing energy transition has led to the emergence of new market structures—wholesale, retail, and peer-to-peer (P2P)—which require the EMSs to simultaneously address the issues of scalability, interoperability, real-time optimization, cybersecurity, and economic efficiency. These transitions have also posed significant challenges in market design, hierarchical control, data privacy, and decentralized decision-making, calling for a fundamental rethinking of EMS architecture and algorithms.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in the architecture, modelling, optimization, control, and implementation of energy management systems tailored to the operational needs of wholesale, retail, and peer-to-peer energy markets.

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

• Multi-layer EMS design for integrated wholesale, retail, and P2P trading;
• Coordination mechanisms among transmission, distribution, and prosumer markets;
• EMS for market-based distributed energy resource (DER) scheduling;
• Decentralized and distributed optimization techniques in EMSs;
• EMSs under uncertain renewable generation and demand responses;
• Privacy-preserving and secure data sharing in market-oriented EMSs;
• Game-theoretic approaches and market mechanism design in P2P environments;
• Blockchain and smart contract integration in energy management;
• Real-time energy pricing and settlement mechanisms;
• Human-in-the-loop and behavioral modeling in EMS design;
• Digital twins and AI-driven EMSs for resilient market operations;
• Forms of renewable energy plants' participation in the market.

Dr. Yuanxing Xia
Dr. Yu Huang
Dr. Wu Chen
Guest Editors

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