Real-time electricity pricing mechanisms are emerging as a key component of the smart grid. However, prior work has not fully addressed the challenges of multi-step prediction (Predicting multiple time steps into the future) that is accurate, robust and real-time. This paper proposes a novel Artificial Intelligence-based approach, Robust Intelligent Price Prediction in Real-time (RIPPR), that overcomes these challenges. RIPPR utilizes Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) to transform the spot price data stream into sub-series that are optimized for robustness using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. These sub-series are inputted to a Random Vector Functional Link neural network algorithm for real-time multi-step prediction. A mirror extension removal of VMD, including continuous and discrete spaces in the PSO, is a further novel contribution that improves the effectiveness of RIPPR. The superiority of the proposed RIPPR is demonstrated using three empirical studies of multi-step price prediction of the Australian electricity market.
