Demand characterization and management in a smart city

The growth of electricity demand, increased integration of renewable power generation, and increased uncertainties require a greater investment in the future distribution network sector in order to ensure secure, economic, efficient operation. It is also a prime requirement to see the realistic level of customer electricity consumption in order to manage system demand and to meet said criteria. Taking into account these challenges, the paper investigates an innovative and alternative methodology to characterize the domestic electricity demand of a smart city based on statistically data recorded at half-hourly intervals. The paper also investigates domestic demand side management by smartly shifting the demand peaks to demand valleys as appropriate to consumer and distribution network needs. A set of case studies are performed and the results suggest that the proposed approach can capture strategic smart city locations that benefits the operation of a distribution network.