Flexible Load Interruptions in a Virtual Power Plant

The increasing needs of human population and the supremacy of automation in every day life, in addition to the environmental pollution and the greenhouse gases have revealed the emergency of searching for different and efficient ways to control and manage the energy consumed. In the same direction, the local government in many countries has given strong financial direct and indirect motivations for energy reduction, showing the importance of the energy saving issue nowadays. One of the methods widely adopted in some European countries for the reduction of electricity consumption is the preordaining or not interruptions of specific loads in different premises (houses, hotels, industries e.t.c). In this study, the results of real life experiments are presented. Several load interruptions have been performed in four sites in the region of Athens indicating of how the characterized as "flexible" loads of each site as well as the site occupants respond to certain interruptions.