Transactive Energy for Smart Cities

Dear Colleagues,

Smart cities use data and technology to optimize the functioning of several utilities, such as transportation and electricity, while making efficient use of physical infrastructure. The technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, etc. The goal of employing such technologies is to create a more interactive city environment where multiple levels of systems coordinate with each other for efficient operation of the overall system. Grid-related resources such as electric utility, co-generation, distributed energy resources, gas, heating, and cooling systems are poised well to implement a transactive approach in a city environment.

The concept of smart cities is unimaginable without cleaner and flexible local energy resources, also known as distributed energy resources (DERs), controlled via an efficient energy management system (EMS). Such an EMS coordinates with DERs integrated with the grids to serve the city’s electricity needs reliably. However, due to the proliferation of DERs, it is a challenging task to coordinate and regulate the flow of electricity in the distribution systems. Transactive energy (TE) refers to the set of techniques to advocate the exchange of energy and regulation of its flow in distribution systems. It fosters an open access network environment for distributed energy nodes compared to the conventional grid framework. Under this new paradigm, all units of energy production and consumption maintain interaction with each other yet obeying power flow and the system security constraints. The system operation becomes more complex due to the active participation of the demand side of the grid and, thus, more points of control compared to the conventional scenario. TE provides several benefits in terms of (1) setting up a transparent and fair market environment for energy players, (2) optimized utilization of DERs, and (3) lowering the supply and demand uncertainties. Therefore, TE paves the way to accelerate the development of sustainable smart cities.

The main goal of this Special Issue is to collect and present research results, advancements and novel methodologies directed towards the usage of transactive energy for smart cities. The Editors of this Special Issue are interested in research papers based on theoretical or practical analyses in the topic of TE for smart cities. In particular, papers considering multiagent Systems (MAS), inter-, and distributed ledgers in the scope of transactive energy are of high interest.

Dr. Kumar Nunna
Dr. Suryanarayana Doolla
Guest Editors

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