MRFO Based Multi-objective Optimization for Minimization of Peak Demand and Load Curtailment

Emergence of smart grid has revolutionized the power system network in this new era of communication. Demand side management (DSM) is one of the smart grid's significant functional areas. DSM is a concept that helps to manage demand by either reducing consumption of electricity or moving load from peak hour to off-peak hour and by doing so, DSM seeks to balance demand and supply without adding additional generation capacity or without reinforcing transmission and distribution network. In this paper a MRFO based multi-objective optimization is implemented to minimize peak load demand ensuring least amount of load curtailment by utilizing available solar power. Firstly, the paper proposes a new multi-objective formulation of DSM that minimises peak demand while minimizing the amount of load curtailed over a period of a day. Secondly, a comparatively new optimization method, MRFO, is used to solve the multi-objective problem. Finally, the proposed method is implemented and tested on a real-life system data of NIT Patna campus and shows promising results. The results obtained indicate considerable decrease in demand for peak hour and load curtailment over 24 hours is also seen to be reduced to a negligibly small value. The power consumption from main grid also reduces.