  We consider the problem of exploiting the microgenerators dispersed in the
power distribution network in order to provide distributed reactive power
compensation for power losses minimization and voltage regulation. In the
proposed strategy, microgenerators are smart agents that can measure their
phasorial voltage, share these data with the other agents on a cyber layer, and
adjust the amount of reactive power injected into the grid, according to a
feedback control law that descends from duality-based methods applied to the
optimal reactive power flow problem. Convergence to the configuration of
minimum losses and feasible voltages is proved analytically for both a
synchronous and an asynchronous version of the algorithm, where agents update
their state independently one from the other. Simulations are provided in order
to illustrate the performance and the robustness of the algorithm, and the
innovative feedback nature of such strategy is discussed.
