Time of use electricity pricing in power system planning and operation: Case study of Nepalese power system

• Main Authors: Simkhada, Sunil, Niraula, Mani, Ojha, Prabesh Raj, Layalu, Yogesh, Singh, Ajay, Gwachha, Rakesh, Shrestha, Ashish
• Format: Article
• Language: English

The difference between load demand in the off-peak and peak period is usually high in the context of Nepal, and the highpeak load for a short time is the main reason for insufficiency in electricity, frequent electricity outage, and poor power quality.This paper investigates the effectiveness of the time of use (TOU) strategy to reduce peak demand and to improve powerquality. TOU electricity price is one of the electric demand response (DR) strategies, which may motivate the customers toreduce their consumption in peak periods and shift load in the off-peak period, which propel the electricity industry towardsa higher efficiency compared to that of common flat prices. In this paper, a process based on an equal step length iterationalgorithm is used to obtain an optimal period partition. Using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, a TOU-basedoptimization model is proposed to find the optimal electricity price. Then, its impact on peak demand reduction and voltagefluctuation is analyzed. The impact of TOU price on peak demand reduction is investigated in the hourly load profile of Nepal,which indicates the significant reduction in peak demand. Similarly, the impact on voltage fluctuation is analyzed through acase study of the IEEE 33-bus radial distribution test system, which shows voltage profile is improved.