Abstract
The increasing share of renewable energy sources on the supply side, as well as the so-called electrification pathways on the demand side, has led to peculiar challenges for electrical systems: Indeed, the increasing load demand has to be balanced from the supply-side viewpoint. In particular, the residential sector contributes to nearly 26% of the final energy consumption in Europe, suggesting that a further understanding of households’ consumptions and load profiles is needed to support an energy transition. In this context, this paper contributes to the existing discussion by proposing a sociodemographic analysis of Italian households’ load profiles using a smart metering experimental study, while also considering the households in energy poverty conditions. For the sake of generality, results are presented based on a previously proposed household segmentation of the Italian residential sector. The outcomes point out three prominent peaks on load profiles for all the identified clusters, with a notable distinction in intensity. Where children are present, a higher load profile is noted, reaching a maximum value of 600 W of absorbed power between 19:30 and 22:30. Conversely, households in an energy poverty condition show a relatively regular load profile, ranging from a minimum of 110 W of absorbed power in baseload conditions at night time to a maximum of 280 W in the evening hours. The findings in this paper are in agreement with existing research in the field, and accordingly the study proposes a better focus on domestic appliances and sociodemographic parameters.
Highlights
The European Green Deal (EGD) [1] sets challenging actions against climate change, including the energy sector’s decarbonization
The possibility of generalization relies on the choice of representative samples that are able to characterize as much as possible all Italian households; we determined which households should be involved in the project by using the segmentation of Italian households proposed by Besagni G. and Borgarello M. [19] using Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) data and identifying the different types of households included in clusters
We noted how which includes a large number of ERP households and is representative of the energy poverty condition, Cluster 7, which includes a large number of ERP households and is representative of the energy has thepoverty minimum energy consumptions in comparison with the other clusters
Summary
The European Green Deal (EGD) [1] sets challenging actions against climate change, including the energy sector’s decarbonization In this perspective, energy systems are undergoing significant transformations, such as increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RESs), leading to a more distributed and fluctuating power generation. Households play an essential role in future and smart electricity systems as they are relevant electricity consumers, and at the same time, they can contribute to increasing the share of power generation capacity. In this context, a precise knowledge of households’ load profiles is needed, as they strongly influence electricity systems [5]; knowledge of households’ load profiles supports further investigations and actions in a broader level perspective, such as the supply capacity or the energy market and economy
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