Energy sustainability under the COVID-19 outbreak: Electricity break-off policy to minimize electricity market crises

Abstract

The world is still facing great economic challenges due to COVID-19, which has significantly influenced energy consumption. While national lockdown policies have been adopted to prevent further outbreaks of the virus, this has hindered electricity supply to manufacturing industries and households. This research optimizes electricity consumption behavior by introducing an electricity break-off (EBO) policy using simulation-based optimization. We measure the optimal time to provide electricity in manufacturing industries and household communities and also calculate the optimal incentive rate on electricity shortfall to minimize electricity crises in the EBO policy. Using this EBO policy, manufacturing industries can run their systems for a limited time under optimal electricity consumption. It is expected that the proposed energy consumption strategy will help sustain environmental quality due to optimal emissions and assist policymakers in conserving energy resources. Conserved energy resources are vital for tackling emerging challenges in the future that could potentially be similar to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.