Current Status of the Energy Sector
In recent years, the terms “carbon neutral” and “sustainability” have been used to describe a growing movement to actively promote renewable energy sources such as solar power and offshore wind power. While it is important to promote the use of sustainable energy, unlike thermal power generation, the production of renewable energy is difficult to control.
Our Vision
We are researching and developing software and algorithms to realize a smart grid that functions as if the entire region were a single power plant by sharing energy resources that are dispersed throughout the region.
Offshore wind farms including distributed wind turbines
Research has recently focused on creating a futuristic offshore wind farm in which multiple wind turbines exchange information with each other to achieve high overall energy generation efficiency. Each wind turbine observes local wind direction information, communicates this information to nearby wind turbines, predicts future wind directions, and autonomously determines which direction each should face. We are also studying algorithmic designs in which wind turbines share information with each other to improve power generation efficiency as a team.
Stochastic Optimal Transport
To realize a smart grid, it is very important to efficiently deliver things from multiple supply points to multiple demand points. For example, delivering energy stored in storage batteries from one location to another by car or ship is necessary to realize a smart grid. In order to optimize the scheduling of cars and ships in situations where transportation costs and demand are not constant (stochastically changing), it is essential to realize a multi-agent system.
