Multi-agent systems are well-known for their expressiveness to explore interactions and knowledge representation in complex systems. Multi-agent systems have been applied in the energy domain since the 1990s. As more applications of multi-agent systems in the energy domain for advanced functions, the interoperability raises challenge raises to an increasing requirement for data and information exchange between systems. Therefore, the application of ontology in multi-agent systems needs to be emphasized and a systematic approach for the application needs to be developed. This study aims to investigate literature on the application of ontology in multi-agent systems within the energy domain and map the key concepts underpinning these research areas. A scoping review of the existing literature on ontology for multi-agent systems in the energy domain is conducted. This paper presents an overview of the application of multi-agent systems (MAS) and ontologies in the energy domain with five aspects of the definition of agent and MAS; MAS applied in the energy domain, defined ontologies in the energy domain, MAS design methodology, and architectures, and the application of ontology in the MAS development. Furthermore, this paper provides a recommendation list for the ontology-driven multi-agent system development with the aspects of 1) ontology development process in MAS design, 2) detail design process and realization of ontology-driven MAS development, 3) open standard implementation and adoption, 4) inter-domain MAS development, and 5) agent listing approach.

Modeling and simulation have been popularly used for system investigation and evaluation. With proper evaluation, distribution system operators can decide on a reasonable course of action for encouraging energy flexibility and make predictions on the recommended timing and magnitude of system updates under different scenarios. However, there is no efficient tool for system operators to quickly set up and perform simulations of alternative scenarios for system updates before planning their course of action, without much experience with programming or system modeling. This paper proposes an agent-based modeling framework for developing agent-based simulation models of business ecosystems that can be applied to multiple evaluation scenarios by simple configuration of agents and roles. There are two steps in this proposed framework: Step 1 – Interface and role interactions design and Step 2 – Agent architecture and connections design. In addition, the framework depends on a pre-step that covers mapping and architecture development of the business ecosystem to be modeled. The framework is demonstrated with a case study of an energy business ecosystem consisting of an electricity distribution grid with 137 connected domestic consumers. The case study shows that the proposed agent-based modeling framework supports the development of agent-based models for simulating energy business ecosystems. To verify the behavior of the developed agent-based simulation models, a verification procedure of the agent models is briefly discussed, which includes unit, integration, and system testing approaches similar to the ones used in software testing.

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