Cross-Subsidy in Electricity Tariffs in China

With the incessant development of power market reform,the existing cross-subsidy in electricity tariffs has become a critical problem in China's power industry development.On the basis of the theories of cross-subsidy and electricity universal service,the authors take foreign countries' experience as reference to design several solutions to cross-subsidies in electricity tariffs in different phases of China's power industry development.Furthermore,the application and implementation of these solutions are analyzed in this paper.

Optimal charging plan for electric bus considering time-of-day electricity tariff

Purpose–The purpose of this study is to develop an optimization method for charging plans with the implementation of time-of-day(TOD)electricity tariff,to reduce electricity bill.Design/methodology/approach–Two optimization models for charging plans respectively with fixed and stochastic trip travel times are developed,to minimize the electricity costs of daily operation of an electric bus.The charging time is taken as the optimization variable.The TOD electricity tariff is considered,and the energy consumption model is developed based on real operation data.An optimal charging plan provides charging times at bus idle times in operation hours during the whole day(charging time is 0 if the bus is not get charged at idle time)which ensure the regular operation of every trip served by this bus.Findings–The electricity costs of the bus route can be reduced by applying the optimal charging plans.Originality/value–This paper produces a viable option for transit agencies to reduce their operation costs.

Online Fuzzy Logic Base Algorithm for Electricity Price Prediction

This paper presents a web-based system to predict the electricity prices.The proposed system captures the geographical location,weather forecast,and oil price for one week ahead.The captured parameters are fed to a fuzzy-logic-based algorithm to calculate electric energy prices.Based on predicted electricity prices,consumers can turn ON/OFF or reschedule operations of their home appliances to reduce their electricity bill.The proposed algorithm was developed and hosted in a utility server(U-server).On the consumer side,a home gateway(H-gateway),and a monitoring and control system was designed,built,and tested by using a single chip microcontroller.

A Review of the Characteristics and Challenges of Electricity Distribution in Ghana: Case Study of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company

This paper presents a review of the characteristics and challenges of electricity distribution in Ghana with an emphasis on the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) in the northern half of Ghana. NEDCo is used as a case study due to the peculiarity of its geographical area of operation and customer characteristics which better highlights the challenges of electricity distribution in Ghana. NEDCo’s electricity distribution operations cover approximately 64% of the total landmass of Ghana and contain the most deprived communities and consumers, who are extensively dispersed. In addition to the scattered settlements, NEDCo has a predominantly lifeline customer base that pay tariffs below the average cost of service. These peculiarities, together with regulatory complexities, have contributed to many challenges, such as high system losses, high cost of service and poor network reliability, in the electricity distribution sector in Ghana.

Analysis on Construction and Operation of Pumped-Storage Stations in China

Through investigation and analysis on typical system of pumped-storage stations built in China, this paper approaches the investment andfinancing policies, electricity pricing policies and management modes for suchstations. In order to find out the actual operation situations, eight pumped-storage stations in five provinces (municipality) were investigated, and analysesand calculations were carried out on their investments, benefits, capabilities ofloan-repaying etc. During the investigation and study, the types and the installedcapacities of the stations were paid close attention to, so they were made morerepresentative to reflect the present situation of pumped-storage stations inrespect of construction and operation.

Pricing Mechanism in Power Market Construction

The reform on electricity pricing mechanism is a critical problem in power market construction in China, and is in mutual supplementation and promotion with the latter. In particular, the pricing mechanism for electricity fed into network and that for electricity transmission and distribution as well as the relationship between coal and electricity prices, etc. have to be studied in depth. This paper presents several solutions and suggestions to these problems.

Investigation on Grid Connections of Wind Power and PV Power in China

In order to fully comprehend the developing status of wind power and photovoltaic (PV) power generation, a special investigation on the integration of wind power and PV power was launched by the agencies of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) throughout China during July-October 2010. This report is completed based on the investigation along with routine supervisory and management programs. There are totally 573 wind power projects and 94 PV power projects involved. Existing problems in these projects are pointed out and proposals for regulation are put forward.

Smart homes: potentials and challenges

Decentralized distributed clean-energy sources have become an essential need for smart grids to reduce the harmful effects of conventional power plants.Smart homes with a suitable sizing process and proper energy-management schemes can share in reducing the whole grid demand and even sell clean energy to the utility.Smart homes have been introduced recently as an alternative solution to classical power-system problems,such as the emissions of thermal plants and blackout hazards due to bulk plants/transmission outages.The appliances,sources and energy storage of smart homes should be coordinated with the requirements of homeowners via a suitable energy-management scheme.Energy-management systems are the main key to optimizing both home sources and the operation of loads to maximize home-economic benefits while keeping a comfortable lifestyle.The intermittent uncertain nature of smart homes may badly affect the whole grid performance.The prospective high penetration of smart homes on a smart power grid will introduce new,unusual scenarios in both generation and loading.In this paper,the main features and requirements of smart homes are defined.This review aims also to address recent proposed smart-home energy-management schemes.Moreover,smart-grid challenges with a high penetration of smart-home power are discussed.