Privacy Masking for Distributed Optimization and Its Application to Demand Response in Power Grids

• Published in: IEEE transactions on industrial electronics (1982) Vol. 64; no. 6; pp. 5118 - 5128
• Main Authors: Wada, Kazuma, Sakurama, Kazunori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-06-2017; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Communication networks; Correlation; Distributed optimization; Electric power grids; Masking; microgrid; Microgrids; Optimization; Pricing; Privacy; Real time; real-time pricing; Real-time systems; smart grid
• ISSN: 0278-0046; 1557-9948
• DOI: 10.1109/TIE.2017.2668981

We propose a masking method to protect the agent privacy for distributed optimization. In the proposed method, each agent adds a masking signal to the own original state to conceal private information. Additionally, to obtain the correct solution of the optimization problem, they exchange the masking signals with each other and subtract the received signals from the own states. Finally, to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we apply it to microgrids and show that the supply-demand balance is kept via real-time pricing while protecting private information in agents' original states.