Value of Price Responsive Load for Wind Integration in Unit Commitment

The ability of load to respond to short-term variations in electricity prices plays an increasingly important role in balancing short-term supply and demand, especially during peak periods and in dealing with fluctuations in renewable energy supplies. However, price responsive load has not been included in standard models for defining the optimal scheduling of generation units in short-term. Here, elasticities are included to adjust the demand profile in response to price changes, including cross-price elasticities that account for load shifts among hours. The resulting peak reductions and valley fill alter the optimal unit commitment. Enhancing demand response also increases the amount of wind power that can be economically injected. Further, wind power uncertainty can be managed at a lower cost by adjusting electricity consumption in case of wind forecast errors, which is another way in which demand response facilitates the integration of intermittent renewables.