A new approach for providing synchronous reserve using aggregated domestic water heaters

Power demand is increasing with time on a global scale. This becomes a challenge to meet with conventional power generation methods alone which are mostly fossil-fuel based, because of negative impacts like global warming and increased operating costs. Recently, research has been conducted on demand side management (DSM) programs, which adjust quantities from the load-side of the power system to curtail or shift demand. In principle, controllable loads under DSM programs can become a provider of ancillary services for power systems.;In this thesis, a new algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is developed to optimize the operation of domestic water heaters in an aggregated manner to provide the ancillary service of synchronous reserve. The new algorithm is tested on a group of one hundred DWHs, and two cases with different power ratings for the DWHs are considered. The developed method ensures a cost-effective way of providing synchronous reserve and is also environmentally friendly, therefore helping in reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.