Optimal Sizing of Local Photovoltaic Systems in Cement Plants Under Multi-Timescale Demand Response

This paper addresses the low-carbon transformation needs of the high-energy-consuming industry of cement and proposes a planning method that integrates photovoltaic capacity planning and multi-time-scale demand response. The aim of this method is to minimize the total system cost throughout the entire life cycle, including the investment cost of photovoltaic and the expected operating cost considering demand response. A multi-time-scale demand response model that precisely describes the temporal coupling of the cement production process, inventory dynamics, and hourly/weekly scenarios was constructed. By establishing a two-layer stochastic optimization framework and using the typical scenario method to handle the uncertainties of photovoltaic output and market demand, the coordinated optimization of photovoltaic configuration and load flexibility was achieved. Based on a case study of a typical cement plant in China, it is shown that, compared with traditional planning methods, the proposed method can significantly increase the photovoltaic consumption rate, reduce electricity costs, and effectively quantify the system’s demand response capability, providing a theoretical basis and practical tools for industrial users to achieve “source-load” coordinated low-carbon planning.