Direct load control for electricity supply and demand matching - Increasing reliability of wind energy?
(2009)Department of Energy Sciences
- Abstract
- In Sweden as well as in The Netherlands energy policy is increasingly aiming at extending the use of
renewable sources. In accordance with the targets of the European Union, both countries have formulated
national targets for the year 2020. For wind energy these targets are 30.0 TWh of electricity in Sweden and a
total installed capacity of 10.0 GW in The Netherlands. Wind is an inflexible, variable and relatively
unpredictable energy source. Next to that, electricity demand fluctuates over the day and year as well.
However, generation of electricity must at all times equal demand. One way to match electricity produced by
windmills and electricity demand is by changing demand patterns by means of demand response, or more
... (More) - In Sweden as well as in The Netherlands energy policy is increasingly aiming at extending the use of
renewable sources. In accordance with the targets of the European Union, both countries have formulated
national targets for the year 2020. For wind energy these targets are 30.0 TWh of electricity in Sweden and a
total installed capacity of 10.0 GW in The Netherlands. Wind is an inflexible, variable and relatively
unpredictable energy source. Next to that, electricity demand fluctuates over the day and year as well.
However, generation of electricity must at all times equal demand. One way to match electricity produced by
windmills and electricity demand is by changing demand patterns by means of demand response, or more
specifically by direct load control. Direct load control refers to the ability of utilities to remotely shut down
participant equipment on a short notice.
The objective of this research is to investigate what the effect of direct load control is on matching electricity
supply and demand through generation of different scenarios. Three different scenarios, with different degrees
of direct load control, are developed in this study. The first scenario is a Business As Usual Scenario. Future
trends in energy production and demand are integrated in this scenario but no load demand control is carried
out. A second scenario is a Realistic Scenario. Load demand is controlled in this scenario up to a level that is
acceptable for household customers. To investigate the level of control that is desirable, a total of a thousand
questionnaires were sent out, five hundred in The Netherlands and five hundred in Sweden. Participants to the
research could indicate what the maximum acceptable level of control is for them for five different appliances.
These appliances are refrigerators, freezers, dish washers, cloth washers and tumble dryers. The third scenario
is an Optimal Scenario. The effect of theoretically maximum control over before mentioned five appliances, is
investigated in this scenario.
Caused by fluctuations in electricity supply by windmills and in electricity demand, it occurs that supply is not
sufficient to meet demand. In The Netherlands this happens during 6543 hours in the year 2020 if current
trends continue, 10.0 GW of wind energy is installed, and no additional interventions are carried out. During
these hours appliances could be switched off or their use could be postponed. In the Realistic Scenario this
leads to 105 hours less in which electricity production cannot keep up with demand, compared with the
Business As Usual Scenario. This is an improvement of 1.6 per cent. Next to that, the favourable situation
with no difference between electricity demand and supply occurs 494 hours. The Optimal Scenario has 388
hours less in which electricity demand is higher than supply, an improvement of 5.9 per cent. During 1808
hours no difference between supply and demand shows in this scenario.
Sweden has fewer hours in which electricity supply cannot meet demand than The Netherlands, namely 1918
hours. In the Realistic Scenario this number drops to 1827, a decrease of 4.7 per cent. The favourable situation
with no difference between electricity demand and supply occurs on 298 hours in this scenario. In the Optimal
Scenario 1713 hours show an electricity demand that is higher than production, an improvement of 10.7 per
cent, compared to the Business As Usual Scenario. A total of 647 hours show no difference between supply
and demand.
There are differences as well as similarities of the Dutch and Swedish situation. Examples of differences are
(i) sources that are used for electricity production, (ii) difference patterns of electricity supply and demand
have diverging characteristics, (iii) possession of smart meters, and (iv) Dutch respondents cling to their view
of not wanting external control more often than Swedish, regardless of incentives. Similarities are that in both
countries (i) load demand control for matching electricity supply and demand will be needed in 2020 if no
other interventions are done, (ii) more load shifting is needed than customers indicate now, (iii) customers’
opinion about external load demand control, and (iv) more appliances need to be controlled.
The study leads to the conclusion that if current opinions of household customers are taken into consideration,
the extent to which load demand control can deal with fluctuations in electricity supply is moderate.
Improvements could be made by refining householders’ view of external control over their appliances, by
providing more appliances with an external control function, and by policy adjustments.
In this research a variety of assumptions was made. Caused by time restrictions, often data were used that
were most easily available. In some cases these data might not be accurate and they might be unrealistic. This
could be the case with respect to electricity generation patterns in The Netherlands and Sweden, future policy
developments, and appliance information. In future research a more thorough investigation could be done.
Another point of discussion is that the sample that was used for the Swedish questionnaires might not be
representative for the complete Swedish population. Next to that, certain issues were not included in this
study, like effects of global warming, and some data were simplified, for example with respect to appliances.
Recommendations for further research are an investigation of (i) effects of more information to household
customers, (ii) inclusion of more appliances with external control, and (iii) inclusion of economic aspects of
direct load control. This study only focused on social and technical aspects. In future research, an
investigation could be made of costs and benefits of implementing external appliance control. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1479424
- author
- ten Hoeve, Marieke
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2009
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- direct load control fluctuations in electricity supply windmills
- language
- English
- id
- 1479424
- date added to LUP
- 2009-09-23 14:28:04
- date last changed
- 2009-09-23 14:28:04
@misc{1479424,
abstract = {{In Sweden as well as in The Netherlands energy policy is increasingly aiming at extending the use of
renewable sources. In accordance with the targets of the European Union, both countries have formulated
national targets for the year 2020. For wind energy these targets are 30.0 TWh of electricity in Sweden and a
total installed capacity of 10.0 GW in The Netherlands. Wind is an inflexible, variable and relatively
unpredictable energy source. Next to that, electricity demand fluctuates over the day and year as well.
However, generation of electricity must at all times equal demand. One way to match electricity produced by
windmills and electricity demand is by changing demand patterns by means of demand response, or more
specifically by direct load control. Direct load control refers to the ability of utilities to remotely shut down
participant equipment on a short notice.
The objective of this research is to investigate what the effect of direct load control is on matching electricity
supply and demand through generation of different scenarios. Three different scenarios, with different degrees
of direct load control, are developed in this study. The first scenario is a Business As Usual Scenario. Future
trends in energy production and demand are integrated in this scenario but no load demand control is carried
out. A second scenario is a Realistic Scenario. Load demand is controlled in this scenario up to a level that is
acceptable for household customers. To investigate the level of control that is desirable, a total of a thousand
questionnaires were sent out, five hundred in The Netherlands and five hundred in Sweden. Participants to the
research could indicate what the maximum acceptable level of control is for them for five different appliances.
These appliances are refrigerators, freezers, dish washers, cloth washers and tumble dryers. The third scenario
is an Optimal Scenario. The effect of theoretically maximum control over before mentioned five appliances, is
investigated in this scenario.
Caused by fluctuations in electricity supply by windmills and in electricity demand, it occurs that supply is not
sufficient to meet demand. In The Netherlands this happens during 6543 hours in the year 2020 if current
trends continue, 10.0 GW of wind energy is installed, and no additional interventions are carried out. During
these hours appliances could be switched off or their use could be postponed. In the Realistic Scenario this
leads to 105 hours less in which electricity production cannot keep up with demand, compared with the
Business As Usual Scenario. This is an improvement of 1.6 per cent. Next to that, the favourable situation
with no difference between electricity demand and supply occurs 494 hours. The Optimal Scenario has 388
hours less in which electricity demand is higher than supply, an improvement of 5.9 per cent. During 1808
hours no difference between supply and demand shows in this scenario.
Sweden has fewer hours in which electricity supply cannot meet demand than The Netherlands, namely 1918
hours. In the Realistic Scenario this number drops to 1827, a decrease of 4.7 per cent. The favourable situation
with no difference between electricity demand and supply occurs on 298 hours in this scenario. In the Optimal
Scenario 1713 hours show an electricity demand that is higher than production, an improvement of 10.7 per
cent, compared to the Business As Usual Scenario. A total of 647 hours show no difference between supply
and demand.
There are differences as well as similarities of the Dutch and Swedish situation. Examples of differences are
(i) sources that are used for electricity production, (ii) difference patterns of electricity supply and demand
have diverging characteristics, (iii) possession of smart meters, and (iv) Dutch respondents cling to their view
of not wanting external control more often than Swedish, regardless of incentives. Similarities are that in both
countries (i) load demand control for matching electricity supply and demand will be needed in 2020 if no
other interventions are done, (ii) more load shifting is needed than customers indicate now, (iii) customers’
opinion about external load demand control, and (iv) more appliances need to be controlled.
The study leads to the conclusion that if current opinions of household customers are taken into consideration,
the extent to which load demand control can deal with fluctuations in electricity supply is moderate.
Improvements could be made by refining householders’ view of external control over their appliances, by
providing more appliances with an external control function, and by policy adjustments.
In this research a variety of assumptions was made. Caused by time restrictions, often data were used that
were most easily available. In some cases these data might not be accurate and they might be unrealistic. This
could be the case with respect to electricity generation patterns in The Netherlands and Sweden, future policy
developments, and appliance information. In future research a more thorough investigation could be done.
Another point of discussion is that the sample that was used for the Swedish questionnaires might not be
representative for the complete Swedish population. Next to that, certain issues were not included in this
study, like effects of global warming, and some data were simplified, for example with respect to appliances.
Recommendations for further research are an investigation of (i) effects of more information to household
customers, (ii) inclusion of more appliances with external control, and (iii) inclusion of economic aspects of
direct load control. This study only focused on social and technical aspects. In future research, an
investigation could be made of costs and benefits of implementing external appliance control.}},
author = {{ten Hoeve, Marieke}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Direct load control for electricity supply and demand matching - Increasing reliability of wind energy?}},
year = {{2009}},
}