Grid FriendlyTM Appliances - Load-side Solution for Congestion Management

Abstract

This paper discusses the effectiveness of deploying grid friendlytrade appliances (GFAs) as a load-side solution for congestion management in a competitive electricity market, with a residential house ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) load as an example. A GFA can have a sensor and a controller installed to detect price, voltage, or frequency signals and then adjust its thermostat setpoint or turn on/off according to certain control logics. By using the congestion price as a signal to shift GFA power consumption from high-price periods to low-price periods to reduce load in load pocket areas, transmission line congestion can be successfully mitigated. The magnitude of GFA load reduction and the location of the GFA resources are critical to alleviating congestion on targeted transmission lines while not causing other lines to congest. Simulation results are presented, and the impact of implementing price-responsive GFAs on the power grid is also studied