A Collaborative Approach to Demand Side Energy Management

Integrating the idea of collaborations into the energy domain appears a promising feat, although, relatively contemporary and uncommon. In this study, we implement a Demand Side Management strategy using the concept of Collaborative Virtual Power Plant Ecosystem as a digital representation of an Energy Community. The community uses a sharing platform to share experience, technical and professional knowledge, facilitating members ambition to change their energy use behaviours. Members of the community are represented as software agents. Behaviours in the adopted model are arranged in a framework of tasks and goals for agents to accomplish. Agents join the ecosystem under deterministic and stochastic conditions. A multi-method modelling approach is used. This study revealed that through collaboration, agents are able to accomplish set tasks faster, thus reducing their chances of frustration and subsequent exit from the ecosystem. This approach helps to influence member's behaviour and increases membership fluidity, facilitating community stability and sustainability.