A comparison of distributed optimal power flow algorithms

We present an approach to parallelizing optimal power flow (OPF) that is suitable for coarse-grained distributed implementation and is applicable to very large inter-connected power systems. The proposed distributed scheme can be used to coordinate a heterogeneous collection of utilities. Three mathematical decomposition coordination methods are introduced to implement the proposed distributed scheme: the Auxiliary Problem Principle (APP), the Predictor-Corrector Proximal Multiplier Method (PCPM), and the Alternating Direction Method (ADM). We demonstrate the approach on several medium size systems, including IEEE Test Systems and parts of the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) system.