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Some of the major concerns since the implementation of smart meters (prepaid meters) in some parts of Ghana is how electricity consumers have benefited from data obtained from these meters by providing important statistics on electricity-saving advice; this is one of the key demand-side management methods for achieving load reduction in residential homes. Appliance shifting techniques have proved to be an effective demand response strategy in load reduction. The purpose of this paper is therefore to help consumers of electricity understand when and how they can shift some appliances from peak to off-peak and vice versa.

The research uses an analysis technique of Richardson et al. (2010). In their survey on time-of-use surveys to determine the usage of electricity in households as far as appliance shifting was concerned, this study allowed for the assessment of how the occupants’ daily activities in households affect residential electricity consumption. Fell et al. (2014) modeled an aggregate of electricity demand using different appliances (n) in the household. The data for the peak time used in this study were identified from 05:00 to 08:00 and 17:00 to 21:00 for testing the load shifting algorithms, and the off-peak times were pecked from 10:00 to 16:00 and 23:00. This study technique used load management considering real-time scheduling for peak levels in the selected homes. The household devices are modeled in terms of controlled parameters. Using this study’s time-triggered loads on refrigerators and air conditioning systems, the findings suggested that peak loads can be reduced to 45% as a means of maintaining the simultaneous quality of service. To minimize peak loads to around 35% or more, Chaiwongsa and Wongwises (2020) have indicated that room air conditioning and refrigerator loads are simpler to move compared to other household appliances such as cooking appliances. Yet in conclusion, this study made a strong case that a decrease in household peak demand for electricity is primarily contingent on improvements in human behavior.

This study has shown that appliance load shifting is a very good way of reducing electrical consumption in residential homes. The comparative performance shows a moderate reduction of 1% in load as was found in the work done by Laicaine (2014). The results, however, indicate that load shifting to a large extent can be achieved by consumer behavioral change. The main response to this study is to advise policymakers in Ghana to develop the appropriate demand response and consumer education towards the general reduction in electrical load in domestic households. The difficulty, however, is how to get the attention of consumer’s on how to start using appliances with less load at peak and also shift some appliances from off-peak times. By increasing consumer knowledge and participation in demand response, it is possible to achieve more efficiency and flexibility in load reduction. The findings were benchmarked with existing comparison studies but may benefit from the potential production of structured references. However, the findings show that load shifting can only be done by modifying consumer actions.

It should be remembered that this study showed that the use of appliances shifting in residential homes results in load reduction benefits for customers, expressed as savings in electricity prices. The next step will be to build on this cost/benefit study to explain and measure how these reductions transform into net consumer gains for all Ghanaian households.

Load shifting will include load controllers in the future, which would automatically handle electricity consumption from various appliances in the home. Based on the device and user needs, the controllers can prioritize loads and appliance usage. The algorithms that underpin automatic load controllers will include knowledge about the behaviors of groups of end users. The results on the time dependency of activities may theoretically inform the algorithms of automatic demand controllers.

This paper addresses an important need for the country in the midst of finding solutions to an unending energy crisis. This paper presents demand response to the Ghanaian electricity consumer as a means to help in the reduction of load in residential homes. This is a novel research as no one has at yet carried out any research in this direction in Ghana. This paper has some new information to offer in the field of demand in household electricity consumption.

In this chapter, characteristic of the fuel and energy sector of Republic of Belarus; its organizational structure; the current state of development of power, gas, peat, and oil industries are given. The energy balance of the country and the main power streams is analyzed. Characteristic of key indicators of energy security is presented. The main threats connected with ensuring energy security of Republic of Belarus are allocated. In particular, the characteristic of the directions of reducing the energy dependence of the Republic of Belarus on the supply of natural gas from the Russian Federation is presented. Dynamics of power consumption of GDP is analyzed. Potential of use of renewable and local energy resources, complexity and prospect of their further integration into the Belarusian power system are considered. The prospects of development of nuclear power of Republic of Belarus are described. The advantages and disadvantages connected with input of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in operation are designated. The perspective directions of sustainable power development of Republic of Belarus till 2035 are revealed.

Wind energy has matured to a level of development at which it is ready to become a generally accepted power generation technology. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief review of the state of the art in the area of electrical machines and power‐electronic systems for high‐power wind energy generation applications. As the first part of this paper, latest market penetration, current technology and advanced electrical machines are addressed.

After a short description of the latest market penetration of wind turbines with various topologies globally by the end of 2010 is provided, current wind power technology, including a variety of fixed‐ and variable‐speed (in particular with doubly‐fed induction generator (DFIG) and permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) supplied with partial‐ and full‐power converters, respectively) wind power generation systems, and modern grid codes, is presented. Finally, four advanced electrical‐machine systems, viz., brushless DFIG, open winding PMSG, dual/multi 3‐phase stator‐winding PMSG and magnetic‐gear outer‐rotor PMSG, are identified with their respective merits and challenges for future high‐power wind energy applications.

For the time being, the gear‐drive DFIG‐based wind turbine is significantly dominating the markets despite its defect caused by mechanical gears, slip rings and brush sets. Meanwhile, direct‐drive synchronous generator, especially utilizing permanent magnets on its rotor, supplied with a full‐capacity power converter has become a more effective solution, particularly in high‐power offshore wind farm applications.

This first part of the paper reviews the latest market penetration of wind turbines with a variety of mature topologies, by summarizing their advantages and disadvantages. Four advanced electrical‐machine systems are selected and identified by distinguishing their respective merits and challenges for future high‐power wind energy applications.

In the wake of the December 2015 Paris COP21 (Conference of Parties), and India's announced renewable energy commitments, Reliance Power is reviewing its renewable energy investments to arrive at a long term strategy for the role of renewable energy in its power generation portfolio and the financing of renewable projects. The case reviews the Indian government's policies to promote renewable energy; the evolution of the renewable energy sector; and Reliance Power's financing of renewable energy investments. The case requires identification of alternative long term strategies and their financing implications. This case serves as an introduction to renewable energy from the perspective of Reliance Power, a large private power generator of the country. These projects also provide a learning opportunity for Reliance Power to deal with fast evolving renewable technologies.

Access to affordable and sustainable energy is crucial for the improvement of the well-being of modern societies. Most energy technologies require comparatively high up-front investment, which adds to the challenge of electrification, despite the recognized multiple benefits. Partnership with multinational enterprises (MNEs) can provide necessary investment in infrastructure, finance, and technology for renewable energy and contribute to improving development indicators. However, remote areas with poor infrastructure do not have access to MNEs that are profit seekers. The Brazil experience with MNEs and “Light for All” (LfA) program shows that people gaining access to electricity invest more in businesses, education, health, and women reduce their drudgery at household chores. However, areas having a poor infrastructure in the north remain out of electricity, and attempts to create universal access were failed until a regulatory incentive framework and particular attention from the government was established. This is a great learning for the developing countries aiming to achieve sustainable development goals. A host country can gain development cooperation from MNEs with rightly formulated and implemented policies and regulatory conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of control strategy selection on the power performance of wave energy converters for different ratings of the Power Take‐Off (PTO) system.

The case of a point absorber equipped with an all‐electric PTO is considered. The effect of control techniques and electrical generator design is analyzed from a theoretical standpoint and then verified through integrated hydrodynamic‐electric simulations.

It has been proved that control parameters that maximize the power extraction from the waves can be derived based on the power and torque constraints imposed by the electrical machine.

An optimized and integrated approach to the control strategy selection and generator design for point absorbers has been presented, which maximizes the electric power generation from sea waves under real conditions and represents a good trade‐off for the PTO from both the technical and the economic standpoint.

Taking into account the current relevance of the concept of smart city connected with the Internet of Things, this work aims to study the implementation of this concept by applying a new energy model in an existing public building. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the sustainability and energy autonomy of the building.

The building referred to in the case study is a library, and simulations related to the ongoing study are based on an energy audit, comprising a survey on electrical and thermal energy consumption. The innovative proposed model consists of a mix of energy production processes based on photovoltaic panels and biomass boilers. Economic analysis of the energy model has already yielded some results regarding the payback on investment, as well as avoided emissions in the context of development of a low-carbon economy with avoided emissions and socioeconomic advantages.

It is possible to enhance the sustainability of the library studied by the retrofit of the current energy system. With the integration of photovoltaic panels and the conversion or replacement of boilers from natural gas to biomass, the GHG emissions could drop around 121 t CO₂ per year. Another benefit would be the inclusion of endogenous resources over imported energy resources. The payback period for the measures proposed ranges from 2.5 to 8 years, proving that the increase in environmental sustainability is viable.

The intention here is to implement the concept of smart city, in more sustainable buildings, bringing them to the lowest possible energy consumption levels, hence increasing performance and comfort. Also, taking into account that the energy-consuming buildings are already constructed, it is urgent to reconvert them to lower the use of energy and emissions using technologies based on renewable energy, boosting the use of local resources.

This paper aims to design an optimum vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and assess its techno-economic performance for wind energy harvesting at high-speed railway in Malaysia.

This project adopted AutoCAD and ANSYS modeling tools to design and optimize the blade of the turbine. The site selected has a railway of 30 km with six stops. The vertical turbines are placed 1 m apart from each other considering the optimum tip speed ratio. The power produced and net present value had been analyzed to evaluate its techno-economic viability.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 0020 blade has been carried out. For a turbine with wind speed of 50 m/s and swept area of 8 m², the power generated is 245 kW. For eight trains that operate for 19 h/day with an interval of 30 min in nonpeak hours and 15 min in peak hours, total energy generated is 66 MWh/day. The average cost saved by the train stations is RM 16.7 mil/year with battery charging capacity of 12 h/day.

Wind energy harvesting is not commonly used in Malaysia due to its low wind speed ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 m/s. Conventional wind turbine requires a minimum cut-in wind speed of 11 m/s to overcome the inertia and starts generating power. Hence, this paper proposes an optimum design of VAWT to harvest an unconventional untapped wind sources from railway. The research finding complements the alternate energy harvesting technologies which can serve as reference for countries which experienced similar geographic constraints.

Energy production and distribution is undergoing a revolutionary transition with the advent of disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Energy (IoE), 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). IoE essentially involves automating and enhancing the energy infrastructure: the power grid from grid operators to energy generators and distribution utilities. The IoE also relies on powerful connectivity networks such as 5G, big data analytics and AI to optimise its operation. By incorporating the technology that employs ubiquitous devices such as smartphones, tablets or smart electric vehicles, it will be possible to fully exploit the potential of IoE using 5G networks. 5G networks will provide high speed connections between devices such as drones, tractors and cloud networks, to transfer huge amounts of sensor data. Additionally, there are many sources of isolated data across the main energy production units (generation, transmission and distribution), and the data is increasing at phenomenal rates. By applying AI to these data, major improvements can be brought at each stage of the energy production chain. Tying renewable energy to the telecommunications sector and leveraging on the potential of data analytics is something which is gaining major attention among researchers and industry experts. This chapter therefore explores the combination of three of the most promising technologies i.e. IoE, 5G and AI for achieving affordable and clean energy, which is SDG 7 in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study aims to perform an extensive literature review in the area of the maintenance decision analysis (MDA), especially in power generation systems. In the basis of this review, the paper proposes a new model for the MDA which involves a combination of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS) performance with energy efficiency performance (EEP).

Starting from the opportunity in Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) by improving the energy efficiency (EE) and using renewable energy for the power generation system, also concerning to the major challenge of maintenance optimization in order to implement maintenance strategy, the maintenance decision-making and energetic efficiency management system (EEMS) have been reviewed. In the context of power generation system's performance, the measurement is also analyzed and identified. Then, the extensive literature review has been performed to compare between RAMS and EEP. And finally, the limitation and gap, where EEP is not yet a complementary consideration during MDA being identified and a new model for the performance-based MDA is proposed.

The new model proposed for the performance-based MDA is able to be used to conduct maintenance decision by utilizing the combination of RAMS and EEP depending on the type of decision required.

There is an opportunity for a maintenance organization of power generation plant to apply this new model proposed for the MDA in order to optimize the maintenance scope and schedule.

The result of work in this paper forms the basis for combining RAMS with EEP as performance-based MDA tools in the context of maintenance of the power generation system.