Abstract
In order to overcome a number of difficulties detected on the Brazilian electricity market this paper proposes and tests a bid based short-term market. To simulate the behavior of the hydros in this new market, it was implemented an Agent-Based Model - ABM using the reinforcement QLearning algorithm, Simulated Annealing, and linear programming. In the simulations we used real data from the Brazilian power system encompassing more than 98% of the total hydro installed capacity and three years of market data. The results indicate that the management of (virtual) reservoirs can be under the responsibility of each hydro, which could save water according to their own risk perception, while it is maintained the current efficiency and security levels. Results also suggest that the final monthly short-term market prices can substantially decrease in comparison with the current prices.

Abstract
The restructuring of power systems induced new challenges to generation companies in terms of adequately planning the operation of power stations in order to maximize their profits. In this scope, hydro resources are becoming extremely valuable given the revenues that their operation can generate. In this paper we describe the application of the Matlab® Linprog optimization function to solve the Short Term Hydro Scheduling Problem, HSP, admitting that some stations are installed in the same cascade and that some of them have pumping capabilities. The optimization module to solve the HSP problem is then integrated in an iterative process to take into account the impact that the operation decisions regarding the hydro stations under analysis have on the market prices. The updated market prices are then used to run again the HSP problem thus enabling considering the hydro stations as price makers. The developed approach is illustrated using a system based on the Portuguese Douro River cascade that includes 9 hydro stations (4 of them are pumping stations) and a total installed capacity of 1485 MW.

Abstract
With the increase of electricity tariffs and the decreasing costs for distributed generation technologies, more and more residential consumers are deploying local generation systems to satisfy their electricity demand in order to reduce overall cost. Typically, however, a mismatch between electricity generation and demand remains. Storage systems enable consumers to reduce this mismatch by storing locally generated electricity for later consumption, instead of feeding excess generation into the grid. This paper analyzes the economics of storage installations in a residential consumer context. A linear program is presented to determine the optimal dispatch, and Simulated Annealing is used to identify the cost minimizing system configuration. The developed approach is tested for a multi-family house in Germany.

Abstract
Transmission Expansion Planning (TEP) is a complex optimization problem that has the purpose of determining how the transmission capacity of a network should be enlarged, satisfying the increasing demand. This problem has combinatorial nature and different alternative plans can be designed so that many algorithms can converge towards local optima. This feature drives the development of tools that combine high robustness and low computational effort. This paper presents a comparative analysis and a detailed review of the main Constructive Heuristic Algorithms (CHA) used in the TEP problem. This kind of tools combine low computational effort with reasonable quality solutions and can be associated with other tools to use in a subsequent step in order to improve the final solution. CHAs proved to be very effective and showed good performance as the test results will illustrate.

Abstract
Interoperability may be defined as the ability of intelligent electronic devices (IED's) to exchange and use information correctly. Although the IEC 61850 standards define a consistent methodology for interconnecting IEDs in substation using LAN based technologies to promote interoperability, this ability to exchange information correctly is not always achieved between different IED's from different manufactures. This paper reports the assessment of IED's, featured with IEC 61850 standards and connected to the same communication network from different manufactures. Different interoperability tests are performed and the difficulty and challenges to exchange and receive information is also reported. Possible solutions on the XML schema to generate a compliant SCL file as well as the way to scale up the standardization of the substation project is also explored and discussed in this paper.

Abstract
Smart grids aim at ensuring a secure, reliable and efficient operation of power systems and for that purpose they need communications infrastructures capable of meeting different requirements. Current and emerging wireless multi-hop solutions based on standard technologies are strong candidates for communications networks associated and integrated with electric distribution grids but a suitable methodology to evaluate and deploy them is missing. This paper presents a holistic methodology supported by contextual information used to generate different scenarios of distribution grids and to evaluate and deploy wireless communications networks for smart grids. Simulation results show that the methodology is suitable for the evaluation of wireless multi-hop networks in the smart grid context and prove that the performance of such networks meets the expected requirements of different applications.