Supplying renewable energy to deferrable loads: Algorithms and economic analysis

In this paper we propose a direct coupling of renewable generation with deferrable demand in order to mitigate the unpredictable and non-controllable fluctuation of renewable power supply. We cast our problem in the form of a stochastic dynamic program and we characterize the value function of the problem in order to develop efficient solution methods. We develop and compare two algorithms for optimally supplying renewable power to time-flexible electricity loads in the presence of a spot market, backward dynamic programming and approximate dynamic programming. We describe how our proposition compares to price responsive demand in terms capacity gains and energy market revenues for renewable generators, and we determine the optimal capacity of deferrable demand which can be reliably coupled to renewable generation

Environmental regulation in transmission-constrained electricity markets

We discuss potential competitive effects of regulating carbon emissions in a transmission constrained electricity market. We compare two regulatory instruments, renewable portfolio standards and taxing emissions. We derive general conclusions about impacts on prices and output on a three node network. We find that renewable portfolio standards increase the market power of nonpolluting generators whereas the tax is market-power neutral. We verify our conclusions through simulations

A stochastic unit commitment model for integrating renewable supply and demand response

We present a stochastic unit commitment model for assessing the reverse requirements resulting from the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources and deferrable demand in power systems. We present three alternative demand response paradigms for assessing the benefits of demand flexibility in absorbing the uncertainty and variability associated with renewable supply: centralized co-optimization of generation and demand by the system operator, demand bids and coupling renewable resources with deferrable loads. We present simulation results for a model of the Western Interconnection