17–19 Sept 2026
ETH Zürich
Europe/Zurich timezone

A Mixed-Integer Bi-Objective Model for Fair and Efficient Energy Community Operations

18 Sept 2026, 11:00
20m
Siemens Auditorium (HIT E 51) (ETH Zürich)

Siemens Auditorium (HIT E 51)

ETH Zürich

Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Regular Presentation Regular session

Speaker

Carlos Henggeler Antunes (INESC Coimbra, Departement of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-690 Coimbra, Portugal)

Description

This work presents a bi-objective optimization model for the coordinated management of energy flows in an energy community under fixed time-differentiated buying and selling electricity prices. The model captures the behavior of heterogeneous consumers and prosumers with diverse energy profiles, encompassing combinations of flexible and non-flexible loads, photovoltaic generation, stationary batteries and electric vehicles. This diversity reflects realistic variations in consumption patterns, resource availability and flexibility potential across community members.
The optimization problem aims to determine optimal schedules for energy consumption, local generation, storage operation and peer-to-peer exchanges, subject to operational, technical and energy balance constraints, prioritizing self-consumption. Individual cost functions account for energy transactions with the grid and within the community, revenues from energy sales (for prosumers), and penalties associated with deviations from predefined consumption profiles.
Two objectives are considered, both expressed in terms of cost reductions relative to a baseline scenario without community participation. The first objective maximizes the minimum relative cost reduction among all participants, ensuring a fair allocation of benefits across the community. The second objective maximizes the total relative cost reduction, capturing overall economic efficiency.
The resulting model, formulated as a mixed-integer program, provides a tractable framework for optimizing energy community operations and exploring the trade-offs between fairness and efficiency by characterizing the set of nondominated (Pareto-optimal) solutions. It enables the analysis of how different operational strategies impact the distribution of benefits among participants and the overall performance of the community, considering the diversity of consumer profiles.

Keywords energy community, multi-objective optimization, fairness
Participation in the SNSF Early-Stage Researcher Support and Award Scheme I am submitting a regular presentation but do not wish to participate in the scheme.

Author

Carlos Henggeler Antunes (INESC Coimbra, Departement of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-690 Coimbra, Portugal)

Co-authors

Prof. Maria João Alves (Faculty of Economics) Dr Inês Soares (INESC Coimbra) Dr Ana Soares (INESC Coimbra, University of Coimbra)

Presentation materials