The electricity cost is one of the largest components of operating costs on a belt conveyor system. This dissertation introduces a unique Conveyor Electricity Cost Efficiency Audit Methodology (CECEAM). In the CECEAM the conveyor system is evaluated from a high to detail level in order to identify opportunities to improve electricity costs. The CECEAM includes methodologies and tools developed to analyze not only the conveyor belt alone, but also the materials handling system as a whole. The outline of the dissertation is structured as follows: Chapter 1 includes the background and problem identification by means of a literature study. The main objective, as well as specific objectives, is defined in this chapter. In chapter 2, the CECEAM is introduced and an overview of the total methodology is discussed. The data acquisition part of the CECEAM; documentation, personnel, walk, technical audit as well as the conveyor database is discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 concentrates on the Conveyor Energy Conversion Model (CECM) and the verification thereof. The Integrated Conveyor Energy Model (ICEM) methodology is introduced (in chapter 5) and the economic evaluation concepts and energy management basics needed in the CECEAM are covered. Chapter 6 covers a CECEAM case study where the practical application of the CECEAM is illustrated with ICEM simulations, opportunity identification and recommendations. The conclusion and recommendations for further studies is proposed in chapter 7. / Dissertation (MSc (Electrical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

Le travail effectué dans cette thèse propose et évalue une solution au problème de coupure fréquente du courant électrique fourni par le réseau publique défaillant dans plusieurs pays en voie de développement. La solution consiste à installer un système de panneaux Photovoltaïques (PV) avec des batteries de stockage opérant conjointement avec le réseau. L’étude traite particu- lièrement le cas Libanais et considère une application résidentielle à consommation d’énergie élevée. La topologie du système proposé introduit des contraintes supplémentaires au fonction- nement de l’ensemble par rapport aux deux configurations classiques traitées dans la littérature, à savoir accrochage au réseau ou système autonome. L’étude vise principalement à maintenir une alimentation permanente en électricité du foyer ainsi qu’à réduire les frais du système installé tout en respectant les niveaux de confort exigés par les résidents. L’étude traite l’optimisation du système PV-Batteries, en partant du dimensionnement jusqu’au fonctionnement. Tout d’abord, sa configuration est optimisée en se basant sur une étude économique détaillée pour l’estimation des frais considérant une durée de vie de 20 ans. Le dimensionnement est formulé comme un problème d’optimisation visant la réduction du coût global du système. L’optimisation du fonctionnement du système PV-batterie vient en second lieu. Un algorithme de contrôle de charges est élaboré. Cet algorithme sert à éviter la coupure du courant électrique tout en mainte- nant des niveaux élevés de confort des habitants d’une part et en respectant les contraintes de fonctionnement du système d’autre part. La gestion des charges s’effectue à plusieurs niveaux, afin de gérer les charges prévisibles et imprévisibles. La commande développée assure la coordi- nation complète entre tous les composants de l’installation : réseau, panneaux PV, batteries de stockage et charges électriques. L’étude prouve que le contrôle des charges conçu ne se limite pas à l’optimisation du fonctionnement du système, mais contribue de même à la réduction de son coût global. Le logiciel établi est optimisé de sorte à assurer une faible consommation de mémoire et une prise de décision rapide afin de réaliser l’implémentation des codes sur des processeurs de type ARM Cortex-A9. Les résultats de simulation et d’implémentation montrent que le programme développé est générique, flexible, précis, rapide et fiable.Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse attestent que le système PV-batterie proposé est bien approprié pour remplacer le réseau public pendant les périodes de coupure du courant électrique dans une application résidentielle. De plus, ce système présente une bonne fiabilité surtout lorsqu’il est couplé avec le programme de contrôle des charges développé. / This thesis addresses the issue of intermittent primary energy source in several developing countries and considers, in particular, the case study of Lebanon. A PV-battery backup system is proposed and assessed as a replacement of the grid energy during daily power outage periods for a high energy consuming residential house. The proposed system topology introduces more critical conditions and additional constraints on the operation of the system compared to standard on-grid or standalone PV systems. The main concern is to provide permanent electricity supply to the house, reduce the resulting fees, and ensure high performance and reliability of the backup system while respecting the residents’ comfort levels. This thesis aims at thoroughly assessing the suitability of the proposed backup system by focusing on various aspects of the system. First, its configuration is optimized through the development of a detailed economic study estimating the resulting fees over its 20-year lifetime. The sizing process is formulated as an optimization problem having the sole objective of minimizing the overall cost of the system. Furthermore, a detailed comparative study of various water heating techniques is conducted to the end of determining the most suitable configuration to be coupled with the proposed backup solution. Second, the thesis targets the operation optimization of the PV-battery system by implementing a Demand Side Management (DSM) program aiming at preventing the occurrence of loss of power supply to the house while maintaining high comfort levels to the inhabitants and respecting the operation constraints of the system. The control is divided into several layers in order to manage predictable and unpredictable home appliances. The strength of the developed control lies in ensuring the complete coordination between all the components of the installation: the grid, PV panels, battery storage, and the load demand. The benefits of the DSM are proven to go beyond the operation optimization of the system since they highly affect the sizing of the backup, and by extension, the overall resulting cost. The established program is optimized for the hardware implementation process by ensuring a low memory consumption and fast decision making. The developed C codes of the full DSM program are implemented on ARM Cortex-A9 processors. The simulation and implementation results show that the developed management program is highly generic, flexible, accurate, fast, and reliable.The results presented in this thesis validate that the proposed PV-Battery backup system is highly suitable to assist unreliable grids. It outperforms currently installed Diesel Generators and demonstrates a remarkable reliability especially when coupled with the developed DSM program.

This master thesis deals with the question how you could use “demand side management” to influence the consumer on the energy market. Because of the increasing part of the renewable energy the stability in the energy production will drop. With new technology the building of energy storages will be one way to deal with the problem. Another way is to influence the consumer. Firstly the thesis will give a brief overview about the current development of renewable energy. This includes the production time and location of every energy sources. After that the next chapter is about the consummation side of the energy market with the prices. A detailed examination will show the biggest groups of demander and their location and time of consumption. The third chapter will describes the German electricity market including the main problems with demand side management on this market: the low price elasticity. The last chapter will take in the actual demand side management. Methods and applications will show a possible way to overcome the main problem but can’t bring a universal solution. The reasons are the low amount of data referring to renewable energy and applied demand side management and the development of a new market with a less of fossil fuel. The new market would change all actual concepts of pricing and vice versa the consumption.

This thesis focuses on the question whether it is economically viable to operate a system for household electricity production and if so, what are the necessary conditions to do so. In the text of this thesis a brief summary of environmental protection and sustainable development is presented, followed by the description and current state of technologies needed to construct systems for electricity production in the scale of family houses with focus on photovoltaic systems, and a description of the current legislation and administrative barriers related to this subject. Economic view (costs and return of investment) is examined in relation to multiple conditions, focus of this examination being on the geographical conditions, legislation and administrative conditions, state subsidies, electricity production and consumption profiles in the household and electricity price development scenarios. Technologies for household electricity production are therefore put into the context relevant to the citizens of the Czech Republic. The results of this work show, that the systems for photovoltaic electricity production in family houses in the conditions of the Czech Republic are economically viable with the premise that the surpluses of electricity produced are effectively consumed, for example for water...

L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer et étudier des modèles mathématiques d’échanges économiques, basés sur la flexibilité de la demande, entre fournisseurs et consommateurs d’électricité. D’une part, des fournisseurs d’électricité offrent des prix dépendant de l’heure de consommation. D’autre part, des consommateurs adaptent leur usage, minimisant leur facture et le désagrément lié aux changements de consommation induits. La structure de ces problèmes correspond à des problèmes d’optimisation bi-niveau. Trois types de modèles sont étudiés. Tout d’abord, l’interaction entre un fournisseur et un opérateur de smart grid est modélisée par un problème à un seul meneur et un seul suiveur. Pour cette première approche, le niveau de détails du suiveur est particulièrement élevé, et inclut notamment une gestion stochastique de la production distribuée. La meilleure réponse d’un fournisseur dans un modèle à plusieurs meneurs et plusieurs suiveurs fait l’objet de la seconde partie de la thèse. Celle-ci intègre aussi la possibilité d’avoir des agrégateurs comme suiveurs. Deux nouvelles méthodes de résolution reposant sur la sélection d’équilibres de Nash entre suiveurs sont proposées. Enfin, dans une troisième et dernière partie, on se focalise sur la recherche d’équilibres non coopératifs pour ce modèle à plusieurs meneurs et plusieurs suiveurs.Tous les problèmes abordés dans cette thèse le sont non seulement d’un point de vue théorique, mais également d’un point de vue numérique / The objective of this thesis is to develop and study mathematical models of economical exchanges between energy suppliers and consumers, using demand-side management. On one hand, the suppliers offer time-of-use electricity prices. On the other hand, energy consumers decide on their energy demand schedule, minimizing their electricity bill and the inconvenience due to schedule changes. This problem structure gives rise to bilevel optimization problems.Three kinds of models are studied. First, single-leader single-follower problems modeling the interaction between an energy supplier and a smart grid operator. In this first approach, the level of details is very high on the follower’s side, and notably includes a stochastic treatment of distributed generation. Second, a multi-leader multi-follower problem is studied from the point of view of the best response of one of the suppliers. Aggregators are included in the lower level. Two new resolution methods based on a selection of Nash equilibriums at the lower level are proposed. In the third and final part, the focus is on the evaluation of noncooperative equilibriums for this multi-leader multi-follower problem.All the problems have been studied both from a theoretical and numerical point of view.

According to the 20-20-20 targets set by the European Union, 50 percent of the Swedish electricity share is to be provided by renewable energy sources by 2020. The Smart Grid Gotland (SGG) project has emerged as a response to this target. The project aims at demonstrating a proof of concept on how smart grid solutions can be used to integrate large quantities of renewable energy sources in an existing network. The outcomes of the project are intended to pave the way for future renewable energy integration projects in Sweden. The Thesis focuses on one of the technical objectives of the SGG project, i.e. to increase the hosting capacity of wind power on Gotland from 195 MW to 200 MW by using Demand-Response (DR) from households and industries. DR consist of shifting peak-loads to peakproduction hours. The integration of additional wind power causes a risk of exceeding the transmission capacity of the power export cable between Gotland and the Swedish mainland. The approach considered for this Thesis is to use an Ancillary Service (AS) toolbox scheme based on multi-agent systems. The AS toolbox consist of flexibility tools such as DR on long-term, short-term, a battery energy storage system and a wind curtailment scheme. The DR activity includes space heating and domestic hot water consumption from detached houses on Gotland. The simulation results indicate that 1900 household participants are sufficient to balance the additional 5 MW for worst case scenarios. Furthermore, it is shown that the DR participation from industries contributes in some cases to a reduction of 700 household participants. The findings helped conclude that using an AS toolbox solution on Gotland is fully possible from a technical perspective. However, barriers that stand against its realisation are of economical nature and need to be investigated in future studies.

The new generation of cars are so-called Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) which has the grid connection capability. By the introduction of these vehicles, the grid issues will be connected to the private car transportation sector for the first time. The cars from the gird perspective can be considered as a regular load with certain power factor. The effects of this type of new load in distribution grid are studied in this thesis. By modelling the cars as regular load, the effects of the cars in three distinct areas in Stockholm are investigated. The car number in each area is estimated based on the population and commercial density of electricity consumption in the three areas. Afterward, the average electricity consumption by the cars in one day is distributed among 24 hours of the day with peak load in the studied year. This distribution is done by two regulated and unregulated methods. The regulated method is based on the desired pattern of electricity consumption of PHEVs by vehicle owners. On the other hand, the regulated pattern is designed based on encouragement of the car owners to consume electricity for charging their car batteries at low-power hours of day (usually midnight hours). The power system from high voltage lines in Sweden down to 11 kV substations in Stockholm simulated in PSS/E software has been used in this study. The automation program (written in Python) is run in order to get the output report (voltage variation and losses) of the load flow calculations for different hours of day by adding the required power for PHEVs both by regulated and unregulated patterns. The results show the possibility of introducing growing number of cars till year 2050 in each area with existing grid infrastructures. Moreover, the number of cars, yearly and daily electric consumption for PHEVs in pure electric mode are shown in this project and the effects of regulated electricity consumption are investigated. It is concluded that since the car number is estimated based on the population, the areas with higher residential characteristics are more problematic for integration of PHEVs from capacity point of view. Moreover, by regulating the charging pattern of PHEVs, the higher number of PHEVs can be integrated to the grid with the existing infrastructures. In addition, the losses have been decreased in regulated pattern in comparison with unregulated pattern with the same power consumption. The voltage in different substations is within the standard boundaries by adding 100 percent of PHEVs load for both regulated and unregulated patterns in all three areas.

I Sverige står hushållen för en stor del av den slutliga elanvändningen och deras konsumtionsmönster bidrar till att skapa höga förbrukningstoppar, särskilt under vintermånaderna när elbehovet är som störst. Om hushållen kunde tänka sig att vara mer flexibla i när de använder el skulle förbrukningstoppar kunna dämpas avsevärt och balansen mellan elproduktion och elanvändning bli lättare att upprätthålla. Idag utnyttjas inte efterfrågeflexibilitet i någon större utsträckning, förutom den från vissa elintensiva industrier. Den flexibla kapacitet enskilda hushåll skulle kunna bidra med är naturligtvis lägre än hos industrier, men sammanslaget skulle hushållskunders flexibilitet kunna ge en substantiell inverkan på elsystemet. Vid låga utetemperaturer finns det en uppskattad potential att genomföra effektjusteringar om cirka 1 400 – 3 100 MW om värmelasten hos drygt hälften av samtliga eluppvärmda hus i Sverige omdisponeras till andra tidpunkter, och ytterligare några hundra MW om drygt hälften av samtliga hushåll i Sverige vore flexibla i när de använder hushållsel. Enligt en studie av Broberg m.fl. (2016) skulle drygt hälften av hushållen i Sverige kunna tänka sig att vara flexibla, beroende på vad flexibel innebär. Hushåll som använder el för uppvärmning kan vara flexibla genom att tillfälligt öka eller minska inomhustemperaturen, eller om de använder el i kombination med något annat uppvärmningssätt – genom att byta energikälla. Justeringen kan även ske automatiskt om uppvärmningssystemet är utrustat med central styrutrustning. Om ett stort antal kunders flexibla laster samlas ihop av en marknadsaktör skulle den totala flexibla lasten kunna säljas som kapacitet på grossistmarknaden för el eller erbjudas som upp- eller nedregleringsbud på reglermarknaden. Studien av Broberg m.fl. (2014) har även analyserat hur stor ekonomisk kompensation hushåll vill ha i utbyte mot att vara flexibla. Sett till den flexibla kapacitet hushållskunders efterfrågeflexibilitet bedöms motsvara, cirka 1 400 – 3 100 MW, är kompensationskraven legitimerade, åtminstone om den flexibla kapaciteten erbjuds på någon marknadsplats för elhandel. Styrtjänster som innebär att elanvändningen automatiskt optimeras efter elpriset kan dock vara dyra idag, vilket innebär att det främst tros vara hushåll med hög elförbrukning som utnyttjar dem och de bör därför subventioneras. En annan form av flexibilitet är att anpassa elanvändningen efter det timvarierande elhandelspriset. Den enda förutsättningen för att konsumenten ska tjäna på en sådan anpassning är att elförbrukningen mäts och debiteras på timbasis, vilket är fallet för de relativt få kunder som har valt att teckna timprisavtal. På grund av att konsumentpriset på el inte varierar särskilt mycket saknas incitament för att kunder ska vilja anpassa sin användning efter priset. Det behövs därför en mer effektiv prissättning som exempelvis förstärker volatiliteten eller gör det dyrare eller billigare att använda el vid vissa tidpunkter. / In Sweden, residential consumers account for a large share of the final electricity consumption. Their consumption patterns pose great impact on the network power peaks, especially during the winter. If residential consumers were more flexible in their consumption, peaks would be alleviated considerably and the balance between electricity supply and demand would more easily be maintained. Today, demand side flexibility is not utilized to any greater extent, except the one from energy intensive industries. De flexible capacity a single household could contribute with is of course less than within industries, but if flexible capacity from a large number of households were bundled up it would provide a considerable impact on the electricity system. At low outdoor temperatures there is an estimated potential to reach power adjustments in the size of 1 400 – 3 100 MW if the heat load in just over half of the electric heated houses in Sweden were displaced, and a few hundred more if residential consumers were flexible in their consumption of domestic electricity. According to a study by Broberg et al (2016) approximately half the population would consider to be flexible in their electricity consumption under the right circumstances. Households that use electricity for heating can be flexible through temporarily adjust the indoor temperature, or – if they heat their homes with electricity in combination with another heat source – by switching heat source. The adjustment can also be automatic if the heating system is equipped with a central control unit. If flexible capacity from a large number of households is bundled up into grid worthy demand response by a market actor, the capacity could be offered as bids on organized electricity markets. The study by Broberg et al (2014) also analysed how much compensation households require in exchange for being flexible. The compensation levels are justified with regard to the flexible capacity that can be gathered form households, 1 400 – 3 100 MW, at least as long as the capacity is sold in an organized electricity market. Services for automatic control of heating systems, where the power output is optimized after the varying electricity price, can be expensive today, which indicates that mainly households with a high electricity consumption utilize them today. Hence, they need to be subsidized. Demand side flexibility can also be to manually change consumption patterns in response to price signals. The only precondition is that the electricity consumption is measured and billed on an hourly basis, which is the case for the relatively few consumers with hourly rate agreements. The volatility of the electricity price is however subdued due to the large share of fixed surcharges, which means there is lack of incentive for consumers to adapt their consumption in response to price variations. Hence, the volatility needs to be amplified through efficient pricing.

Demand-Side Management concepts have the potential to positively impact the financial as well as the environmental aspects of energy-intensive industries. More specifically, they allow reducing the energy cost for the industrial plants by dealing with energy-availability fluctuations. In this context, efficient frameworks for scheduling with energy awareness have been studied and showed potential to reduce the overall energy bill for energy-intensive industries, for instance stainless steel and paper plants. Those frameworks usually combine scheduling and energy optimization into one monolithic system. This work investigates the possibility of integrating the two systems by specific exchange of signals, while keeping the scheduling model separated from the energy-cost optimization model. Such integration means that the pre-existent schedulers and energy optimizers could be easily modified and reused without re-implementing the whole new system. Two industrial problems with different scheduling approaches are studied. The first problem is about pulp and paper production which uses the Resource Task Network (RTN) scheduling approach. The second one is about stainless steel production which is based on a bi-level heuristic implementation of an improved energy-aware scheduler. This work presents the decomposition methods that are available in literature and their application to the two industrial problems. Besides an improvement in the RTN approach for handling storages, this thesis describes a prototype implementation of the energy-aware RTN scheduler for paper and pulp production. Furthermore, this work investigates the performance of the application of different decomposition methods on different problem instances. The numerical case studies show that even though the decomposition decreases the solution quality compared to the monolithic system, it still gives good solutions within an acceptable duration with the advantage of having two separate pre-existent systems which are simply exchanging signals.

Under the determined impulse of the European Union to limit the environmental impact of energy-related services, the electricity sector will face several challenges in coming years. Integrating renewable energy sources in the distribution networks is certainly one of the most urging issues to be tackled with. The current grid and production structure cannot absorb the high penetration shares anticipated for 2020 without putting at risk the entire system. The innovative concept of smart grid offers promising solutions and interesting implementation possibilities. The objective of the thesis is to specifically study the technical and economic benefits that the creation of an aggregator on the Swedish island of Gotland would imply. Comparing Gotland's power system characteristics to the broad variety of solutions offered by demand side management, wind power integration enhancement by demand response appeared particularly suited. A business case, specifically oriented towards the minimisation of transmission losses by adapting the electric heat load of private households to the local wind production was designed. Numerical simulations have been conducted, evaluating the technical and economic outcomes, along with the environmental benets, under the current conditions on Gotland. Sensitivity analyses were also performed to determine the key parameters for a successful implementation. A prospective scenario for 2020, with the addition of electric vehicles, has finally been simulated to estimate the long term profitability of an aggregator on the island. The simulation results indicate that despite patent technical benefits for the distribution network, the studied service would not be profitable in the current situation on Gotland. This, because the transmission losses through the HVDC-cable concern limited amounts of power that are purchased on a market characterized by relatively cheap prices and low volatility. Besides, the high fixed costs the aggregator has to face to install technical equipment in every household constitutes another barrier to its setting up.