Demand side management of a domestic dishwasher: Wind energy gains, financial savings and peak-time load reduction

Ireland is currently striving to achieve an ambitious target of supplying 40% of electricity demand with renewable energy by 2020. With the vast majority of this being met by wind energy, an intermittent and non-dispatchable energy source, it is inevitable that frequent substantial curtailment will occur during times of excessive generation. This paper investigates the potential for demand side management to limit the requirement for curtailment and further facilitate the integration of renewable energy by shifting the timing of electrical demand in response to various signals including pricing and wind availability. Using a domestic dishwasher as an example, significant increases in the amount of renewable electricity consumed are demonstrated with simultaneous financial savings for the consumer. Furthermore, secondary benefits such as peak-time demand reductions in excess of 60% are observed. The impact of employing demand side management based on imperfect day-ahead market predictions is also analysed and the resulting deficiencies are quantified. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.