Abstract
One of the main challenges in the world as well as in Latvia is the reduction of the fossil fuel consumption. Electricity generation, which is still mainly produced by fossil fuel or nuclear power, is one of the largest shares. Nowadays end-users can efficiently control their electricity consumption by shifting electrical loads and taking into account fluctuating electricity price at Nord Pool. The smart metering systems have been expanding, but for the time being, end-users do not use this possibility efficiently.
This study provides an analysis of Latvian electricity consumption specifics and evaluates a potential to shift electricity peak loads. The study includes households, industry and commercial/public sector. Based on the questionnaire distributed among end-users, the initial data on equipment and usage profile were collected. The most essential equipment was reviewed to estimate the potential for load shift. The obtained results show that that there is a positive effect of the load shift. In the household sector, the average electrical load shift can be 6 % (95 GWh/ year) during a period at a cheaper price; in the industry sector on average 37 % (36.58 GWh/ year) and in the commercial/public sector there is no potential due to its specifics (working hours, constant use of refrigerators, etc.).