mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

PowerGym: A Reinforcement Learning Environment for Volt-Var Control in Power Distribution Systems

arXiv 2109.03970 ↗First posted 8 Sep 2021cs.LG cs.AIcited by 10

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Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce PowerGym, an open-source reinforcement learning environment for Volt-Var control in power distribution systems. Following OpenAI Gym APIs, PowerGym targets minimizing power loss and voltage violations under physical networked constraints. PowerGym provides four distribution systems (13Bus, 34Bus, 123Bus, and 8500Node) based on IEEE benchmark systems and design variants for various control difficulties. To foster generalization, PowerGym offers a detailed customization guide for users working with their distribution systems. As a demonstration, we examine state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithms in PowerGym and validate the environment by studying controller behaviors. The repository is available at urlhttps://github.com/siemens/powergym.

Key facts. Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 15 of its 37 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 8 Sep 2021.

Builds on

15 of 37 references.

References · 15

  1. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 14,441
  2. 2016Asynchronous Methods for Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 2,218
  3. 2015Deep Reinforcement Learning with Double Q-learningcited by 1,704
  4. 2018Soft Actor-Critic Algorithms and Applicationscited by 1,179
  5. 2020Minimax-Optimal Off-Policy Evaluation with Linear Function Approximationcited by 120
  6. 2021Learning to run a Power Network Challenge: a Retrospective Analysiscited by 52
  7. 2019ChainerRL: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Librarycited by 51
  8. 2019Learning to run a power network challenge for training topology controllerscited by 33
  9. 2021Gym-ANM: Reinforcement Learning Environments for Active Network Management Tasks in Electricity Distribution Systemscited by 18
  10. 2018Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 13
  11. 2020Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Volt-VAR Optimization in Smart Distribution Systemscited by 12
  12. 2020pymgrid: An Open-Source Python Microgrid Simulator for Applied Artificial Intelligence Researchcited by 10
3 more
  1. 2020Continuous Multiagent Control using Collective Behavior Entropy for Large-Scale Home Energy Managementcited by 7
  2. 2018ns3-gym: Extending OpenAI Gym for Networking Researchcited by 6
  3. 2013Exact Convex Relaxation of Optimal Power Flow in Radial Networkscited by 3

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Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 2; 2022: 1; 2023: 0; 2024: 5; 2025: 0; 2026: 2.

10 papers.

  1. 2024Graph Reinforcement Learning for Power Grids: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 6
  2. 2021A Graph Policy Network Approach for Volt-Var Control in Power Distribution Systemscited by 5
  3. 2022Distributional Actor-Critic Ensemble for Uncertainty-Aware Continuous Controlcited by 3
  4. 2024CommonPower: A Framework for Safe Data-Driven Smart Grid Controlcited by 3
  5. 2021Soft Actor-Critic With Integer Actionscited by 2
  6. 2024HistoGym: A Reinforcement Learning Environment for Histopathological Image Analysiscited by 1
  7. 2024Scalable Volt-VAR Optimization using RLlib-IMPALA Framework: A Reinforcement Learning Approachcited by 0
  8. 2024Digital Twin-Empowered Voltage Control for Power Systemscited by 0
  9. 2026OpenG2G: A Simulation Platform for AI Datacenter-Grid Runtime Coordinationcited by 0
  10. 2026PowerZooJax: A JAX-based Power System Benchmark for Reinforcement Learningcited by 0