Smart control of large heating and air conditioning systems could help stabilise the power grid, according to new research.
Scientists at the US Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have devised a method to control the heating and cooling systems of a large network of buildings for power grid stability, without adversely affecting the comfort of occupants.
Harnessing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)-related demand of a fleet of commercial and residential buildings would help electricity suppliers maintain the balance between supply and demand and potentially avoid the need for large-scale investment in new generation infrastructure.
“We developed control schemes that don’t require a large number of calculations and can be implemented easily on existing HVAC systems that have simple on-off controls,” said ORNL’s Mohammed Olama.
Simulations found that the controls can provide frequency regulation for a group of 50 buildings, while keeping indoor temperatures within 0.5 degrees Celsius of a set range, ORNL reported.
Buildings consume around 73% of electricity produced in the United States, and about half of that is for HVAC systems. However, only about 10% of all commercial buildings use automation systems to control their energy use, and very few of these provide energy control services to power system operators.
“The unrealised potential to incorporate buildings into the grid to provide ancillary services is therefore very large and will help mitigate the global challenge of providing reliable, cost effective and clean energy,” the research team said.
The findings of the research have been published in the journal Energies.