DER, energy management, and transactive energy networks for smart cities

Abstract With urbanization and increased energy demand, present paradigm of electric utilities is changing rapidly to support and integrate new local distributive energy sources (DER). Sustainability goals and universal commitment have actively pushed renewable generation to push for 50% of overall demand over the next few years. This chapter describes the new energy paradigm with integrated smart systems from field to cloud, with Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, as part of the digital transformation, which will allow energy to be transacted between prosumers, through energy markets. The chapter discusses various DER, from renewable generation to demand response, and gets into the details of underlying digital components that form the foundation of OT+IT (operational and information technologies) systems for transactive energy and smart microgrids. The energy markets, both short and long term, pricing strategies and scheduling are topics that utilities used to care, and now the customers will have to understand and participate. Smart microgrids and transactive energy are described starting from electric and IT system architecture, along with the key functionality of energy management. As this new field evolves, several key observations, considerations, and challenges are presented that will be major topics to watch out for new practitioners. At the end, transactive energy is an irreversible trend and it will be adapted across the world, in various degrees.