A Distributed Control Approach for Demand Response in Smart Grids

Abstract

The smart grid is a new concept that has been developed during recent years to improve the intelligence and efficiency of electric power system management. Traditional electricity systems are combined and integrated with information technology, communication technology, and intelligent control technology in the smart grid. Demand Response (DR) refers to the changes in consumers' electricity consumption behavior in response to dynamic pricing or financial incentives. Based on the control manner, DR methods are classified as centralized or distributed. In distributed techniques, customers communicate with the other consumers and provide data to the power utility about the overall use. In this paper, we focus on the distributed approach of DR using the shifting method for a short-term horizon. To be more specific, three well-known solutions were studied: the Resource Allocation with Legitimate Claims, the Constrained Fair-Splitting Dispatch, and Real-Time Pricing. Finally, we compare the different techniques of DR distributed approaches based on the control mechanism.