Benefits of demands control in a smart-grid to compensate the volatility of non-conventional energies

Uruguay is a leader in the usage of renewable energies, getting 96% of its electricity from an assorted assemble of such sources with an increasing percentage of non-conventional energies, of wind power mostly. As clean and financially stable as they are, non-conventional energies have weaknesses. Unlike thermic and most hydro-sources, wind and solar energies are not controllable,are intermittent and uncertain some hours ahead, complicating the short-term operation and maintenance of electrical systems. This work explores how to use smart-grids capabilities to adjust electricity demand as a hedge against novel short-position risks in the Uruguayan electricity market coming from the volatility of non-conventional renewables. This approach uses combinatorial optimization dispatch models to quantitatively assess benefits resulting from having demand control. Results show that for the Uruguayan context, the benefits are not only due to savings in production costs (generation). Smart-grid optimal dispatch-schedules are also less stressing regarding the operation of the grid itself.