Demand side management in developing nations: A mitigating tool for energy imbalance and peak load management

Demand Side Management, an integral feature of smart grid, exhibits high potential in load balancing and load shifting for efficient management of the power grids. Strategically designed DSM mechanisms can help mitigate load shedding and facilitate peak load management of grids. In India, only flat rate and inclining block rate tariff mechanism exist for residential customers. With the onset of 14 smart grid pilot projects in India, there is a need to address the realization of potential underlying various features of a smart grid. As India is a price sensitive market, time of use tariffs and other demand response programs are expected to potentially affect the consumer behavior in power consumption. In this paper, the usage pattern of residential customers, collected from a pilot project in India is analyzed for scaling the potential of DSM strategies. Simulations have been carried out for a price based mechanism as well as an incentive based mechanism to evaluate the underlying potential of DSM exclusively for residential consumers. The results of the simulation indicate that there is a definite scope for load balancing as well as financial savings.