Demand side management in microgrid: A critical review of key issues and recent trends

In a deregulated power system, Demand Side Management (DSM) plays a vital role in handling the uncertain renewable power generation and load. The flat load-profile can be obtained using the Demand Response (DR) techniques with the storage elements and proper switching. The increasing penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) supports the DR measures which facilitate both the utility and the consumer. The objective of DSM is to minimize the peak demand, electricity cost and emission rate by the effective utilization of storage with RES. This review article mainly focuses on the layers of microgrid, different techniques involved in DSM, mathematical models of DSM, latest optimization techniques and application of storage devices such as battery energy storage system and EVs in DSM. The state of the art of this article lies on the critical analysis related to datascience, advanced metering infrastructure and blockchain technologies which are the uniqueness of this article. The key issues and approaches are examined critically with the existing works to show how DSM implementation can be effectively done in the microgrids to reduce the electricity cost. This article helps the researchers to identify the research gap by gaining knowledge on the implementation of DSM in the microgrid and the factors affecting the DSM implementation. Few recommendations are discussed to provide future directions for researchers who started working in the DSM implementation.