Centralized load control system demonstration test (interim report)

Abstract

The maximum power peak has sharpened in recent years owing to the widespread use of air conditioners and other such equipment. Additionally, the gap between power demand during the day and night, as well as that among the seasons, is widening, while the annual load factor is on the decline. These factors prevent the effective use of generating facilities and are driving costs up. Countermeasures in the form of promotion of load leveling from the demand side have become a national priority. It was in these circumstances that the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) officially requested that Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. (KEPCO) develop a load leveling technology for the future. For eight years starting in 1986, KEPCO conducted a demonstration test in which it directly controlled customer water heaters and air conditioners in a district of the city of Kagoshima. In addition, the company started a test in 1994 to demonstrate load leveling effects through indirect load control in a district of the city of Fukuoka. This load control involved providing customers on the demand side with their own load curves, electricity charge data, and other information so that they would themselves experiment with electricity use. This paper will outline the Centralized Load Control System demonstration test and discuss the system configuration and the 1996 test results of indirect load control that generated effects such as a peak reduction of 0.1 kW per household. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 128(2): 7–17, 1999