Demand Side Management of a Commercial Customer Based on ABC Algorithm

Abstract

The annual consumption of electrical energy has been increasing throughout the world. Most recently, the optimal utilization of electrical energy has gained more importance. Traditionally, the load has been considered as passive component of the grid but, with the rapid changes in power system operation, the demand side management technologies (DSM) now play an important role to improve the energy efficiency of power grid. DSM technique helps the utility to reshape the electric utility load curve and to reduce the peak demand. This article analyses the demand side management strategy of a commercial building situated in a city of South Assam, India. The purpose of the study is to minimize the electrical energy consumption cost of the building for a given period of time. Physical observation reveals that the energy consumption cannot be reduced. Therefore, cost saving can only be achieved by shifting some loads at cheaper billing periods and by optimizing the operation of self-generation systems. This paper focuses on the modelling aspects of the customers’ load and self-generation system for its load management purpose. Further, this article discusses the computational aspects of the optimization model. The load activity strategy is formulated based on the consumption forecast scenarios with significant uncertainty. The customer comfort index during business hours is considered in this work as practical constraints. The algorithm is formulated as mixed integer problem, and the demand side management is obtained under local Time Of Use (TOU) tariff structure. The DSM problem has been implemented using MATLAB and solved using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the load management strategies in reducing the energy consumption cost.