Cold Load Pick-up Algorithms for Line-Voltage Thermostats in a Winter Climate

摘要

For a winter peaking utility where space heating is mostly electric, cold load pick-up, after a significant power failure, may cause a temporary overload of its distribution network, which can generate additional power interruptions if no proper actions are taken. In addition, with the increased popularity of electronic line-voltage thermostats for electric baseboards, it may be necessary to look at the synchronism of the thermostats to avoid having a large number of them cycling in phase with each other; this could cause perturbations of the distribution network.Since electric space heating represents a very significant load in the province of Quebec during winter time, and since Hydro-Quebec is involved in programs promoting the utilisation of electronic line-voltage thermostats, either programmable or not, the Laboratoire des Technologies de l'Energie of Hydro-Quebec (LTE) addressed these issues.