## 1 Introduction
### Background
On transmission levels, a fluctuation in renewable energy supply causes a sudden decrease or increase in power flow, while on distribution and consumer levels, a sudden change in weather conditions can lead to a reduction in renewable energy generation that causes a sudden load increase, affecting the grid voltage and frequency levels. Hence, grid operators need to rely on the frequent operation of high-ramping power supply units, which are costly to operate, where a sudden decrease in renewable energy occurs. In high renewable energy scenarios, the minimum power output of conventional power plants is an extremely sensitive factor to avoid plant shutdown, which is economically a worst-case scenario, causing challenges to conventional power generators' unit commitment and operation [13]. Demand-side management (DSM) and demand response (DR) systems introduce a form of flexibility from the consumer side [14]. In DR systems, the power distributors and grid operator (GO) can influence consumers to shift, shed and reschedule their energy consumption and electrical appliances usage by providing incentives or implementing dynamic pricing methods [15]. Jordan is rapidly installing smart meters around the country, with great potential for implementing many DSM methods such as time of use (TOU) pricing, peak pricing, and real-time pricing schemes. Implementation of a DR scheme targeted to the residential sector can guarantee flexibility in unit commitment planning and hourly operation to achieve optimized demand-supply matching and avoiding the need to use fast-starting and costly power units in times of high energy demand or low renewable energy generation. With the domestic and government buildings accounting for 46.12% of the electrical energy demand in 2019, implementation of the DR and DSM programs is highly recommended for the Jordanian power sector [8]. DR had already proven benefits in Jordan. A pilot project was implemented for the principal consumers of NEPCO with smart meters installed, considering incentives, compensations, and non-peak times price penalties. The pilot project resulted in 6 million dollars indirect savings of operating costs and indirectly increased efficiency in the transmission system with reduced bottlenecks and recommended future expansion on commercial and residential consumers, taking into consideration the effect of renewable energy generation [16]. Figure 1 shows the power demand (MW) for a day in December-2019, together with the wind and solar (PV) energy generated through the day. As can be observed in this figure, the evening peak occurs after the rapid decline in renewable energy from 3 to 5 PM, losing almost 380 MW of solar power, while gaining 612 MW in evening load peaking at 6 PM Hence, a deficit of 992 MW needs to be provided by the GO, NEPCO, between 3 and 6 PM, which amounts to 44% of the average load (2256 MW) of that day. It would be highly favorable for the GO to shift and reduce demand from the evening peak to any other time of the day, especially that period with high solar energy. It is notable that, unit commitment planning for optimized power dispatch is based on planning which power plants to operate at what hours. Each power plant has its startup time; combined cycle (CC) power plants need approximately 3 h to operate. Each power plant has different minimum generation limits, depending on whether it operates in a single cycle (SC) or a CC and the number of activated units. Hence, a DR scheme that targets the evening peak in winter can lead to more flexibility in power dispatch operation and shifting from peak power, which forces the GO to operate fast and expensive power plants to ensure reliable operation in peak times. The dual challenge of minimum power and the start-up time of power plants can be solved by using day-ahead unit commitment optimization that relies on day-ahead hourly predictions of the load, power plant availability, energy cost, and available power Egypt's interconnection.