Economic and Environmental Benefits of Dynamic Demand in Providing Frequency Regulation

Increase of penetration of intermittent renewable power connected to the system will increase the requirements for frequency regulation services. If these services are met by conventional plant running part-loaded, this will not only reduce the system operational efficiency but will also limit the ability of the system to accommodate renewable generation. This work quantifies the value of Dynamic Demand (DD) concept, which enables domestic refrigeration appliances to contribute to primary frequency regulation through an advanced stochastic control algorithm. The benefits of DD providing frequency response are determined for a wide range of future low-carbon generation systems, using an efficient generation scheduling model which includes scheduling of frequency regulation and reserve services. The analysis also considers the potential impact of wind generation on system inertia and primary frequency regulation. Simulations indicate that the benefits of DD increase considerably in systems with high wind penetration, making DD an attractive option for significantly improving system efficiency.