Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 2828: An Economic Analysis of Demand Side Management Considering Interruptible Load and Renewable Energy Integration: A Case Study of Freetown Sierra Leone (Sustainability)

Like in most developing countries, meeting the load demand and reduction in transmission grid bottlenecks remains a significant challenge for the power sector in Sierra Leone. In recent years, research attention has shifted to demand response (DR) programs geared towards improving the supply availability and quality of energy markets in developed countries. However, very few studies have discussed the implementation of suitable DR programs for developing countries, especially when utilizing renewable energy (RE) resources. In this paper, using the Freetown’s peak load demand data and the price elasticity concept, the interruptible demand response (DR) program has been considered for maximum demand index (MDI) customers. Economic analysis of the energy consumption, customer incentives, benefits, penalties and the impact on the load demand are analyzed, with optimally designed energy management for grid-integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) and photovoltaic (PV)-hybrid system using the genetic algorithm (GA). Five scenarios are considered to confirm the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed scheme. The results show the economic superiority of the proposed DR program’s approach for both customers and supplier benefits. Moreover, RE inclusion proved to be a practical approach over the project lifespan, compared to the diesel generation alternative.