Demand response from lift irrigation loads to harness renewable energy

Maintaining Load–Generation Balance (LGB) dynamically at every instant is the most critical requirement for ensuring secure and stable grid operation. However, it would be one of the biggest challenges for the grid (system) operator with addition of huge quantum of Renewable Energy (RE) generation which is highly variable & intermittent in nature. System operator uses various options like flexing the conventional generation, using storage and Demand Response (DR) to shield the system from variable nature of renewables. DR is a valuable tool yet to be fully harnessed by Indian System Operator. Large scale Lift Irrigation (LI) projects are being established Southern Region of India, which can be ideal loads for DR.

Lift irrigation is a method of pumping water to the high altitude terrain, where water can't go by natural gravity. This can be achieved by using power intensive synchronous motors from low lying water bodies. These loads are highly flexible and can provide instantaneous active and reactive power response, similar to hydel plants. Being distributed loads, these can be used as a part of Automatic Demand Management Systems (ADMS) to provide local grid balancing support. This paper discusses the characteristics of LI loads and elucidate how these LI loads can aid better system operation.