Abstract
The following paper presents a novel strategy named Maximum Search Limitations (MS) for the Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (EPSO). The approach combines EPSO standard search mechanism with a set of rules and position-wise statistics, allowing candidate solutions to carry a more thorough search around the neighborhood of the best particle found in the swarm. The union of both techniques results in an EPSO variant named MS-EPSO. MS-EPSO crucial premise is to enhance the exploration phase while maintaining the exploitation potential of EPSO. Algorithm performance is measured on eight unconstrained and two constrained engineering design optimization problems. Simulations are made and its results are compared against other techniques including the classic Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Lastly, results suggest that MS-EPSO can be a rival to other optimization methods. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
The integration of renewable generation in electricity networks is one of the most widespread strategies to improve sustainability and to deal with the energy supply problem. Typically, the reinforcement of the generation fleet of an existing network requires the assessment and minimization of the installation and operating costs of all the energy resources in the network. Such analyses are usually conducted using peak demand and generation data. This paper proposes a method to optimize the location and size of different types of generation resources in a network, taking into account the typical evolution of demand and generation. The importance of considering this evolution is analyzed and the methodology is applied to two standard networks, namely the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 30-bus and the IEEE 118-bus. The proposed algorithm is based on the use of particle swarm optimization (PSO). In addition, the use of an initialization process based on the cross entropy (CE) method to accelerate convergence in problems of high computational cost is explored. The results of the case studies highlight the importance of considering dynamic demand and generation profiles to reach an effective integration of renewable resources (RRs) towards a sustainable development of electric systems.

Abstract
Spatial data mining aims at the discovery of unknown, useful patterns from large spatial datasets. This article presents a thorough analysis of the Portuguese adopters of distributed energy resources using explorative spatial data mining techniques. These resources are currently passing the early adoption stage in the study area. Results show adopter clustering during the current stage. Furthermore, spatial adoption patterns are simulated over a 20-year horizon, analyzing technology concentration changes over time while comparing three different energy policy designs. Outcomes provide useful indication for both electrical network planning and energy policy design. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
This paper presents a method to identify the status (open or closed) of breakers in network branches, in the absence of status signal or electric measurements on the branch including the breaker. Indirect power measurements from the SCADA are combined to form a 2D image array, which is fed into a Convolutional Neural Network. The image construction is based on ranking measurements with the Cauchy-Schwarz divergence between two signal distributions (for breaker open and closed). The success rate obtained with this technique is close to 100% in the IEEE testbed adopted. © 2019 IEEE.

Abstract
This paper describes an open standards-based information system that can support the democratization and consumer empowerment through flexibility activation in the distribution networks of the near future. The paper outlines a software infrastructure focused on technical issues, closely following the OpenADR standard and the corresponding IEC 62746-10 standard. The infrastructure represents a communication backbone allowing the connection, registering, activation and reporting for different types of granular consumer flexibility. The flexibility sources can be very diverse - from controllable charging set points of electric vehicle chargers and district-level storages such as stationary batteries, towards taking advantage of comparatively large time constants of thermal systems in residential and commercial buildings. In the viewpoint of the proposed system, all these flexibility provisions represent distributed energy resources in a wider sense. The system thus offers interoperable support for consumer-level integration of different energy systems (electricity, heat and gas), and additional flexibility sources are made available to the electric power system, all the time keeping the user comfort and avoiding service disruptions. The paper outlines the technical infrastructure as a backbone activating new sources of flexibility, helping the further proliferation of renewable energy sources and establishing new market actors.

Abstract
Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) in transmission systems is one of the most promising sources of data to increase situational awareness of network monitoring. However, the inclusion of PMU measurements along with the ones from traditional Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems to perform state estimation brings additional challenges, such as the vast difference in sampling rates and precision between these two types of measurements. This paper formally introduces a Bayesian inference approach in the form of a new State Estimator for transmission systems able to deal with the different sampling rates of those measurements. The proposed approach provides accurate state estimates even for buses that are not observable by PMU measurements, and when load variation occurs during the time interval between two SCADA data scans. Several simulation results (with IEEE transmission test systems) are used to illustrate the features of the proposed approach.