Demand Side FLexibility and Bidding Strategies for Flexible Loads in Air-Conditioned Buildings

Abstract: Demand-side flexibility (DSF) has been touted as a possible solution to thechallenges in power system operation arising as a result of the increasing intermittent renewables penetration and the emergence of electric vehicles (EVs). In Singapore, where around 24 to 60% of electricity demand in buildings couldbe attributed to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) purposes, air-conditioned building present a potentially major flexibility resource which could be used to provide DSF and help accommodate these challenges. This study aims to investigate the DSF potential of Singapore’s buildingstock and to explore how this potential could be realized through demand-side bidding. To this end, a building energy modeling tool with explicit modeling of the relationship between occupant comfort and HVAC load, CoBMo, is central to the analysis. CoBMo allows optimal load scheduling to minimize overall electricity cost while maintaining occupant comfort through linear programming, which is used for the analysis of both topics. A simple price-based market clearing model is developed to evaluate demand-side bidding implementation, for which a case study on a district in Singapore named Downtown Core is developed. Several scenarios with possible future utility-scale PV penetration in Singapore’s electricity system are explored, as well as a sensitivity analysis and a comparison between demand-side bidding with price-quantity pairs, centralized dispatch, and demand-side bidding with linear curves. Results of the analysis shows that DSF potential varies between building types, largely depending on cooling load and occupancy schedule. When extreme price fluctuations happen in a future Singapore electricity market with 10 GWp PV penetration, demand-side bidding could aid consumers take advantage of their DSF potential by encouraging more effective energy use and in turn, reducing their total electricity cost.