Welcome to the International Workshop on Intelligent Communications for Decentralized Energy Management (EnergyCom2021)

 

The need for clean energy has become crucial with population growth, the abundant demand in traditional energy resources and the need for the decarbonization of economy to curb climate change. The solution ahead is to shift to and integrate more renewable and clean sources of energy with the existing conventional energy infrastructure as well as offer end-users a more active role in the integrated management of their energy resources (grid, loads, storage, microgeneration). Energy trading platforms are mechanisms used to attain increased energy demands while meeting participants’ satisfaction (i.e., consumers, prosumers, and utility grids). Participant satisfaction is driven by two main factors: stable coverage of energy demand and profit maximization, which can be fostered by demand response programs. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading platforms should find a win-win balance, where all participants are able to make some profit and meet their energy demand under any circumstances. However, under certain circumstances, this balance between energy demand and profit can be affected. Some consumers may not be able to buy energy due to the lack of funds. Moreover, some prosumers, that are solely responsible of energy storage management, are not able to sell all their excess energy. Additionally, energy storage management becomes costly over time and can affect the prosumer overall profit. Lastly, scalability and security are additional challenges that must be tackled.

In this context, intelligent communications, as well as decentralized technologies, have emerged as a solution to these issues. For instance, deep and reinforcement learning coupled with fast and reliable communication infrastructures such as B5G, provide great opportunities to improve the way energy prosumers and consumers communicate with the grid. A decentralized energy management system takes advantage of various technologies, and effective communication is used to ensure optimal utilization of the available resources. Incorporation of advanced technologies such as blockchain, distributed intelligence, and federated learning can considerably overcome the technical challenges and reduce market barriers, which in essence would attract the adoption of this disruptive technology.

The aim of the International Workshop on Intelligent Communications for Decentralized Energy Management is to bring together experts, researchers, and practitioners interested in the advances and applications in the field of intelligent communications and computing for decentralized energy management. Participants are invited to present and discuss recent developments and challenges in energy management systems. This workshop focuses on innovative applications, tools, and frameworks in technological areas related to optimization of the energy management infrastructure in the context of smart cities and other relevant application domains.

Researchers are encouraged to submit original research contributions in all major areas, which include, but not limited to:

• Design of multi-objective models for energy management systems, including demand response
• Big data analytics in energy management
• Intelligent infrastructure architectures for energy systems
• Cooperative systems for energy management
• Security and privacy for decentralized energy systems
• Next-generation networks for energy management
• Connected services and energy mobility management
• Autonomous and connected energy in smart cities
• Green energy cities and infrastructure
• P2P energy trading/sharing models
• Management of large-scale energy systems
• Energy-efficient industrial IoT
• Blockchain for energy management
• Advanced communications and computing for energy storage
• B5G technology for energy systems

Important dates