Automated Demand Response in Smart Distribution Grid: A Review on Metering Infrastructure, Communication Technology and Optimization Models

Advancement in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), automation and control provide an promising opportunity to implement the Demand Response (DR) program in smart distribution grid. With the proactive participation of end-consumers, Automated Demand Response (ADR) allows the power distribution utility to maintain the demand-supply balance while achieving the techno-economic benefits. This review article presents the requirement for ADR program implementation and highlights the associated key challenges and their potential solutions. A layer-wise ADR implementation framework in smart distribution grid, sensors and metering infrastucture and communication technology for the successful ADR implementation have been presented in this paper. Optimization models with mathematical formulation while considering various type of DR programs, objective functions and related constraints are briefly dicussed in this paper. DR demonstration projects are briefly discussed to quantify the techno-economic benefits to both power distribution utility and end-consumers e.g. residential, industrial and commercial. Finally, this paper concludes with the potential future research directions for ADR implementation in smart distribution grid.