Energy consumption modeling of production process for industrial factories in a day ahead scheduling with demand response

Industrial electricity demand is growing rapidly, whereby, energy consumption modelling and optimization techniques in industries has attracted significant attention in recent years. In this paper, a new model of energy consumption in the production process of aluminum, steel and cement is presented in accordance with a linear piece-wise approximation (LPWA) method. The proposed model is subsequently implemented in the day ahead energy management scheduling of a Microgrid (MG) (involving industrial factories). In order to increase efficiency and give industries an opportunity to contribute in the energy and ancillary services markets, demand response (DR) programs are implemented. The proposed scheduling model considers all the constraints of industrial factories and the MG to maximize their revenue. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated using three case studies. The first and second case studies respectively investigate the effectiveness of the proposed model with and without the implementation of DR programs. In the third case study, the coordination between industrial factories and a MG is investigated. Finally, the results show that the implementation of DR programs and participation of industrial factories in the energy and ancillary services markets, have improved the demand curve, hence increasing the revenue of the MG and industrial factories

Providing Reliability Services through Demand Response: A Prelimnary Evaluation of the Demand Response Capabilities of Alcoa Inc.

Demand response is the largest underutilized reliability resource in North America. Historic demand response programs have focused on reducing overall electricity consumption (increasing efficiency) and shaving peaks but have not typically been used for immediate reliability response. Many of these programs have been successful but demand response remains a limited resource. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) report, 'Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering' (FERC 2006) found that only five percent of customers are on some form of demand response program. Collectively they represent an estimated 37,000 MW of response potential. These programs reduce overall energy consumption, lower green house gas emissions by allowing fossil fuel generators to operate at increased efficiency and reduce stress on the power system during periods of peak loading. As the country continues to restructure energy markets with sophisticated marginal cost models that attempt to minimize total energy costs, the ability of demand response to create meaningful shifts in the supply and demand equations is critical to creating a sustainable and balanced economic response to energy issues. Restructured energy market prices are set by the cost of the next incremental unit of energy, so that as additional generation is brought into the market, the cost for the entire market increases. The benefit of demand response is that it reduces overall demand and shifts the entire market to a lower pricing level. This can be very effective in mitigating price volatility or scarcity pricing as the power system responds to changing demand schedules, loss of large generators, or loss of transmission. As a global producer of alumina, primary aluminum, and fabricated aluminum products, Alcoa Inc., has the capability to provide demand response services through its manufacturing facilities and uniquely through its aluminum smelting facilities. For a typical aluminum smelter, electric power accounts for 30% to 40% of the factory cost of producing primary aluminum. In the continental United States, Alcoa Inc. currently owns and/or operates ten aluminum smelters and many associated fabricating facilities with a combined average load of over 2,600 MW. This presents Alcoa Inc. with a significant opportunity to respond in areas where economic opportunities exist to help mitigate rising energy costs by supplying demand response services into the energy system. This report is organized into seven chapters. The first chapter is the introduction and discusses the intention of this report. The second chapter contains the background. In this chapter, topics include: the motivation for Alcoa to provide demand response; ancillary service definitions; the basics behind aluminum smelting; and a discussion of suggested ancillary services that would be particularly useful for Alcoa to supply. Chapter 3 is concerned with the independent system operator, the Midwest ISO. Here the discussion examines the evolving Midwest ISO market structure including specific definitions, requirements, and necessary components to provide ancillary services. This section is followed by information concerning the Midwest ISO's classifications of demand response parties. Chapter 4 investigates the available opportunities at Alcoa's Warrick facility. Chapter 5 involves an in-depth discussion of the regulation service that Alcoa's Warrick facility can provide and the current interactions with Midwest ISO. Chapter 6 reviews future plans and expectations for Alcoa providing ancillary services into the market. Last, chapter 7, details the conclusion and recommendations of this paper

Why Bad Regulation Is to Blame for California’s Power Woes (or Why Antitrust Law Fails to Protect Against Market Power When the Market Rules Encourage Its Use)

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Progress in Demand Response and It’s Industrial Applications

Achieving energy flexibility is becoming a key concern for energy system planners that manage intermittent and variable generations. Industries have enormous potential to deliver large-scale energy flexibility through demand response (DR) programs. This industrial demand flexibility achieved through the demand response programs will enable widespread adoption of renewable sources in the electricity grid network. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of demand response and it’s industrial application by addressing: 1) Current research status, 2) Current stages of demand response applications in industries, and 3) Barriers in the deployment of DR programs. This study shows that there is significant research progress in recent years in the field of DR. It also shows potential applications of DR programs in industries. However, the study found several technical, policy, and financial barriers still exist, limiting the widespread adoption of DR. Thus, this paper offers recommendations on technical, policy, and financial measures needed to over-come the barriers and help facilitate the utilization of demand response potential, especially in industries

The Renewable Power of the Mine

Access to affordable and reliable energy is key for the mining sector and with rising demand for minerals and falling ore grades, energy demand is estimated to increase by 36% by 2035. Today, energy produced and procured by mining companies is mostly fossil fuel based. This will have to change if the sector is to contribute to the decarbonization of the world economy, needed for countries to meet the target adopted at the Paris Agreement of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the costs of solar, wind and battery storage systems have been falling at an unprecedented scale, which has encouraged an increasing number of mining companies to test these technologies at their mine sites. The Renewable Power of the Mine report, launched at the Energy and Mines World Congress in Toronto and prepared with the support from the German Cooperation, is the most comprehensive study to date on how the sector has been integrating renewables in their mining operations, the roadblocks that still exist, and the future trends that are likely to further drive the roll-out of renewables to supply electricity to mine sites. 38 case studies are included to highlight practical examples and lessons learned. Recommendations to address the outstanding roadblocks are included for governments, mining companies, independent power producers and donors