This project aims to make the energy sector cleaner by moving power consumption to the times when power generation is the least carbon-intensive, leading also to cost savings.
Background
A team led by researchers at Imperial College London have developed a project called POWBAL(Power Balancing), which aims to make the energy sector cleaner by moving power consumption to the times when power generation is the least carbon-intensive, leading also to cost savings.
As technologies continue to enhance our everyday lives, we are ever more reliant on electricity. As a result, ensuring we have reliable and clean electricity generation systems in India has become an important and challenging goal. One component of the solution is to make the electricity demand more flexible: if we can shift usage that is not time-sensitive to times when the wind blows and the sun shines, supplying us with abundant clean energy, it will be cheaper to produce more electricity from such renewable resources. With the POWBAL project, we are beginning to understand which electricity usage households consider being time-sensitive and when electricity usage is more flexible.
Objective
The project aims to examine how electricity consumption responds to changes in weather. Additionally, understanding how smart meter installations affect electricity consumption and bill payment behavior and determining the scope for demand flexibility at the household level and simulating the impacts of these policies on system reliability and cost of supply.
Results forthcoming.