Abu Dhabi to launch Time of Day energy purchasing trials
The Regulation & Supervision Bureau (RSB) Abu Dhabi will launch ‘time-of-day pricing’ energy purchasing trials in Abu Dhabi in July.
This was revealed by Mark Preece, Director of Electricity Network of RSB in the course of his presentation at the Smart Electricity World MENA event in Dubai this week.
Preece pointed out that RSB is in the process of recruiting 400 volunteers in pre-selected gated communities in the city of Abu Dhabi. The trial will assess whether a change in electricity price during certain times of day could impact consumption.
Under time-of-day pricing, participants are charged a higher price during peak time and a lower price during off-peak time. For the purpose of the trial, peak time has been set from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM as it is directly linked to peak demand time. All hours outside the peak hours have been designated off-peak time.
The theoretical electricity pricing structure comprises two sets of prices for nationals and non-nationals during peak and non-peak hours. For nationals, the same is 10 fils/kWh and 3 fils/kWh respectively, while for non-nationals, it is 30 fils/kWh and 10 fils/kWh respectively.
Participating volunteers will still pay the standard rates (15 fils/kWh for non-nationals and 5 fils/kWh for nationals) throughout the trial. However, consumers who have managed to save under the new tariff structure will receive a refund at the end of the trial.
Volunteers will provided with a full range of energy conservation options as well as a wireless customer display unit that breaks down electricity consumption and costs to make it easy to monitor and optimise energy use.
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