Base loads

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Small Endpoints
• Large Endpoints

Introduction

The network simulation explicitly models some technologies, such as electric vehicles, solar panels, and heat pumps. These have their own load profiles and custom behaviours, which may depend on network constraints like capacity and availability of excess production.

However, households and buildings contain many other electrical devices – such as TVs, washing machines, and computers – not modelled as discrete objects. These are combined together as a "base load", the characteristics of which depend on the size of the endpoint node to which the technology is attached.

Small Endpoints

Endpoints with fewer than 30 households use an "individual" base load profile. These base load technologies consist of two parts:

• An inflexible part whose load is static and must be placed onto the network at the times and in the amounts described by their curve.

• A smaller flexible part whose load may be postponed during times of limited network capacity. The load may be postponed a maximum of 12 frames – equivalent to 3 hours when using curves whose length is 35,040.

  A real-world example of postponing might be to opt not to turn on your washing machine during a period of high demand, and to instead use it later in the day.

  If the user opts to disable postponing of base loads, the flexible part becomes inflexible.

Large Endpoints

Endpoints containing 30 or more households use an aggregated EDSN (Energie Data Service Nederland) profile. Like small nodes, the base load technology is split into two:

• An inflexible part whose load is static and must be placed onto the network at the times and in the amounts described by their curve.

• A flexible part whose load is optional: the load may be "saved". During periods of network constraints, the load placed on the network by the flexible component may be reduced so as to avoid exceeding the capacity of an upstream transformer. In the most extreme periods, the flexible load may be entirely removed from the network.

  A real-world example might be to decide to not turn on your central heating, but instead wear an extra layer of clothing when cold.

  If the user opts to disable postponing of base loads, the flexible part becomes inflexible and it will be placed onto the network regardless of available capacity.