Use of electricity price to match heat load with wind power generation

Abstract

The synergy between electrically heated buildings and wind power generation is analyzed in this paper, with a view to providing lower cost heating and a demand side management resource that will facilitate the growth of renewable generation. The paper begins by demonstrating the relationship between electricity price and wind generation based upon recent market data from Ireland. Thermal parameters from a typical house in Northern Ireland are then used to model such a building's heat loss and thermal storage, and subsequently quantify the electrical energy consumed for heating by means of an air-source heat pump. A novel heating regime is then proposed which takes advantage of the building's thermal storage and the real-time market price of electricity, in order to lower costs. The simulations show that the proposed method can reduce the wholesale cost of heating by 10%, while maintaining a comfortable temperature range inside the building. It is also shown that the proposed method increases the correlation of heat load demand with wind power generation, a useful market mechanism for wind farm developers.