A study on the impact of packet loss and latency on real-time demand response in smart grid

Communication will play a significant role in the evolving smart grid which will allow services such as self-healing, real-time demand response and efficient use of energy. Due to the large number, distributed and more importantly intermittent nature of energy resources (e.g. wind and solar plants), smart grid will rely heavily on communication for super-fast balance between electricity supply and demand. A quick and accurate match between electricity supply and demand has financial and technical benefits. It helps avoid running extra costly plants (e.g, gas turbines) on peak hours and it enhances power grid stability. In this paper we study the influence of some inherent properties of data communication networks (e.g. packet loss and latency) on the performance of the balance between electricity supply and demand. Moreover, we believe that, in the context of smart grid, data communication, and power components must be studied in a common environment. Therefore, we present simulation models for different power plants as well as a simulation model for demand and then, these models are equipped with computing and communication capability. These components represent the first step towards setting up a simulation framework that is able to test new smart grid applications. To demonstrate a realistic mechanism to match supply with demand, a merit order is followed. The preliminarily simulation results show that packet loss and latency have influence on the performance of real-time balance between electricity supply and demand.