Intelligent Demand Side Management for Exhaustive Techno-Economic Analysis of Microgrid System

In a typical microgrid (MG) structure, the requisite of load varies from hour to hour. On the basis of the rise and fall of the load demand curve, the power system utilities fix the rate of electric power at different times of the day. This process is known as time-of-usage (TOU)-based pricing of electricity. The hourly basis load demand can be categorized into elastic hourly load demand and inelastic hourly load demand. For the duration of the peak hours, when the utility charges more, the elastic loads are shifted to low demand hours by the demand side management (DSM) to save the cost. This rebuilds the total demand model on the pillars of demand price elasticity. Keeping in view the fact that the total load in an hour in an MG structure consists of 10% to 40% of elastic loads, the paper proposes an intelligence-technique-based DSM to achieve reduction in the overall cost of using loads in an MG structure. Seven different cases are studied which cover diverse grid participation and electricity market pricing strategies, including DSM programs. The results obtained for all the MGs showcase the applicability and appropriateness of using the proposed DSM strategy in terms of cost savings.

Automated summary

In a typical microgrid (MG) structure, the load requirements vary throughout the day. Power system utilities set rates for electric power based on the fluctuation of the load demand curve, a process known as time-of-usage (TOU)-based pricing. The hourly load demand can be categorized as elastic or inelastic. Elastic loads are shifted to low demand hours during peak hours to save costs through demand side management (DSM) based on demand price elasticity. The paper proposes an intelligence-technique-based DSM strategy to reduce overall cost in MG structures, considering that elastic loads make up 10% to 40% of total load. Seven different cases are studied, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed DSM strategy in terms of cost savings for all MGs.