Optimum energy management strategy with enhanced time of use tariff for campus building using particle swarm optimization

Abstract

Enhanced time of use (ETOU) tariff was introduced by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in 2016 to promote demand response for commercial and industrial consumers. The ETOU tariff scheme offers different tariff rates at different times of the day. However, increment of electricity expenses might occur if consumers fail to optimally shift their consumption to lower rate hours and causing higher usage during peak hours. Furthermore, the time-based pricing tariff is still new to Malaysian consumers, thus consumers have lack of knowledge to perform demand response. Therefore, this research proposes an optimum load management strategy under the ETOU tariff for a commercial building using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The model was applied for Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Complex Engineering Shah Alam. Load profile of five different buildings in the complex were used as inputs for the study. The analyses were carried out at different controlled loads weightage factors ranged from 10-40% for load shifting strategy to determine the optimal solution. Results show the electricity cost decreases in all the controlled load weightage factors tested on the buildings after applying the load management strategy. The weightage factor of 40% provides the best solution for all buildings, saving 1-4% on the monthly bills.