Battery Energy Management in a Microgrid Using Batch Reinforcement Learning

Brida V. Mbuwir, Frederik Ruelens, Fred Spiessens and Geert Deconinck
Additional contact information
Brida V. Mbuwir: ESAT/Electa, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2445, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Frederik Ruelens: ESAT/Electa, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2445, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Fred Spiessens: Energy Department, EnergyVille, Thor Park, Poort Genk 8130, 3600 Genk, Belgium
Geert Deconinck: ESAT/Electa, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2445, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Motivated by recent developments in batch Reinforcement Learning (RL), this paper contributes to the application of batch RL in energy management in microgrids. We tackle the challenge of finding a closed-loop control policy to optimally schedule the operation of a storage device, in order to maximize self-consumption of local photovoltaic production in a microgrid. In this work, the fitted Q-iteration algorithm, a standard batch RL technique, is used by an RL agent to construct a control policy. The proposed method is data-driven and uses a state-action value function to find an optimal scheduling plan for a battery. The battery’s charge and discharge efficiencies, and the nonlinearity in the microgrid due to the inverter’s efficiency are taken into account. The proposed approach has been tested by simulation in a residential setting using data from Belgian residential consumers. The developed framework is benchmarked with a model-based technique, and the simulation results show a performance gap of 19%. The simulation results provide insight for developing optimal policies in more realistically-scaled and interconnected microgrids and for including uncertainties in generation and consumption for which white-box models become inaccurate and/or infeasible.

Keywords: control policy; fitted-Q iteration; microgrids; reinforcement learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

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