A decentralized cooperative framework for multi-area active distribution network in presence of inter-area soft open points

•A new ATC-based approach is developed for optimal scheduling of an MA-ADN.•Inter-area SOPs are optimally scheduled without any central coordinator.•The independence and privacy of the areas are preserved.•The minimum number of data is exchanged in the proposed model.•All technical constraints are modeled in a fully decentralized manner. To increase the flexibility of a Multi-Area Active Distribution Network (MA-ADN), normally opened tie-branches between two different areas are replaced with Soft Open Points (SOPs). In this paper, a cooperative framework based on Analytical Target Cascading (ATC) method is proposed for optimal scheduling of an MA-ADN in the presence of inter-area SOPs, which preserves independence and privacy of the areas. The proposed ATC-based Decentralized Model (ATCDM) optimally determines the day-ahead scheduling of the Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and SOPs, trading with the Upstream Network (UN), along with inter-area transactions, without the need of a central control unit. The technical constraints of SOPs, DERs, AC load flow equations, and privacy constraints are considered and modeled in a convex form. The proposed ATCDM has the least number of coupling variables between the areas, which relieves the complexity of the model and reduces the communication network traffic. In this model, the total operating costs of MA-ADN are reduced, while preserving the technical constraints of the network such as the voltage range of the buses and the thermal capacity of the lines, in a fully decentralized style. To evaluate its performance, the proposed ATCDM is applied on the modified IEEE 33-bus, the modified IEEE 123-bus, and the modified Taiwan Power Company (TPC) distribution networks. The simulation results are compared with the centralized approach, in which all areas are centrally scheduled by a central unit. The comparison of the results showcases the optimality of the proposed ATCDM.