Matching demand and supply of electricity generation is difficult in a renewable-rich system. This is partly due to the long-term variability and short-term uncertainty of wind and solar. Utilities use several approaches to deal with the variations of renewable generation. Some of these include having extra fossil fuel based peaker plants, managing flexible loads using demand-side management, real-time pricing etc. In this paper, we present another approach to manage supply variations by introducing semi-flexible loads at the demand side. These semi-flexible loads are residential loads that cannot be shut down or be moved completely to another hour but have the possibility to shed a small percentage of their load for a short time. This approach called soft load shedding is challenging as residential customers have the multitude of energy usage patterns. In this paper we compare and contrast three soft load shedding techniques and discuss their strengths and shortcomings in matching the demand with available supply.
One such approach, called soft load shedding, is presented by REF .
Soft Load Shedding: An Efficient Approach to Manage Electricity Demand in a Renewable Rich Distribution System
SMARTGREENS
Computer Science