A generic holonic control architecture for heterogeneous multi-scale and multi-objective smart microgrids

Designing the control infrastructure of future “smart” power grids is a challenging task. Future grids will integrate a wide variety of heterogeneous producers and consumers that are unpredictable and operate at various scales. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions will have to control these in order to attain global objectives at the macrolevel, while also considering private interests at the microlevel. This article proposes a generic holonic architecture to help the development of ICT control systems that meet these requirements. We show how this architecture can integrate heterogeneous control designs, including state-of-the-art smart grid solutions. To illustrate the applicability and utility of this generic architecture, we exemplify its use via a concrete proof-of-concept implementation for a holonic controller, which integrates two types of control solutions and manages a multiscale, multiobjective grid simulator in several scenarios. We believe that the proposed contribution is essential for helping to understand, to reason about, and to develop the “smart” side of future power grids.