Methodology to simulate the impact of a large deployment of a residential energy management system in the electricity grid

• An evaluation of the grid impact of a demand response technology was performed.
• The electricity grid impact of demand response was determined at a city level.
• A model for simulating residential demand response was developed.
• Diagrams of the possible demand reduction and increase were obtained.
• New demand peaks may require new grid management strategies.

The purpose of this work is to provide an insight for a possible methodology to implement demand response strategies at a city scale. The objective is to determine a range of values for the energy and power that can be made available through the large deployment of a residential energy management system. This work can help the distribution system operator to assess the impact of the usage of such technology at the grid level.The paper describes a methodology that identifies the start of operation cycles of appliances and other loads on a given general load diagram, enabling the simulation of load shifting caused by the operation of residential energy management systems.A simulation of an hypothetical 20% deployment of a residential energy management system on the city of Coimbra in Portugal, was performed. The results show the release of almost 3% of the demand on periods of higher price, but also the occurrence of a pronounced peak during the night period, an occurrence which may need to be dealt with, and for which some solutions are proposed.