Encyclopedia
Demand response refers to planning, implementing and monitoring the use of electricity to generate changes in the consumers' demand profile to adapt to different needs. Thus, a Demand Response Product can be defined as the contractual framework which guarantees that the service provided by flexible consumers satifies the minimum requirements of the related service to the final user of such flexibility (network operator, energy trader, aggregator, etc.) Demand Response is a key element of future power systems due to its capacity to defer grid investments, improve demand participation in the market and absorb renewable energy source variations. In this regard, Demand Response can play an important role in delivering ancillary services to power systems.
- demand response
- ancillary services
1. Introduction
Power systems are under a period of rapid evolution. The integration of renewable energy sources (RES) is necessary to achieve the Climate Change objectives [1], but it requires new solutions and more flexible power systems to achieve it at a reasonable cost [2]. A decentralized and dynamic paradigm is replacing the old centralized and rigid one [3][4]. Now, operators use all kinds of flexible resources to preserve balance, ensure the security of supply, and improve the efficiency of the system. New flexibility resources as Demand Side Management (DSM) require operators and policymakers to work together to create the appropriate legal and economic framework [5] and to establish the terms of flexibility.
Demand Side Management (DSM) refers to planning, implementing, and monitoring the use of electricity to generate changes in the consumers’ demand profile to adapt to different needs [6][7]. DSM solutions are a valuable tool to smooth demand peaks [8], avoid blackouts, reduce investments on the grid [9] and absorb fluctuations of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) power output [10]. Nevertheless, these uses were marginal since power systems treated consumers as passive agents without the capacity to modify their loads and relied on the flexibility of fossil generators [4]. But now, when flexibility needs arise due to RES variability [2][11], thanks to the advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), DSM counts as necessary infrastructure to fully participate in the system flexibility throughout Demand Response Products (DRP) [12][13].
Demand Response Products (DRP) are not new; many countries have used this kind of program to accommodate them through the years with satisfactory results. The use of Demand Response (DR) was mainly set to avoid extreme and rare events as system blackouts and severe grid conditions to reduce grid decay [14]. Nowadays, the advances in ICT shows that DR has greater reliability to provide flexible services to the system than conventional generators [15]. First, DR can have lower costs than other flexible resources and can provide economic profits to the system as a whole and the consumers that provide it [16][17][18]. Second, DR presents an on-site solution to enable efficient integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) that activate new market agents and open new business opportunities [19][20][21]. Third, DR can provide cheap and reliable Ancillary Services (AS) that were exclusively provided by generators, and as well as other consumer-based solutions, can help to reduce market power [22].
2. Demand Response around the World: Main Application
2.1. Europe
Many European countries opened most of their AS to DR with the same rules as generation resources to compete to provide capacity. Many TSOs adjusted the technical requirements of these services to match what DRPVs can do. In many other cases, TSOs only developed special programs for Demand Side Resources (DSR) to assure DR participation in front of strong competitors or too demanding technical requirements. At the end of this section, Table 1, Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4 contain the main parameters that characterize the different programs open to DR in European AS markets.
Table 1. FCR programs in Europe open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (Country) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RR (France) | Manual | 30 min | 10 MW | 90 min | Capacity and energy |
| Demand Turn Up (United Kingdom) | Manual | Variable, Average: 6 h | 1 MW | Variable, Average: 4.5h | Energy only |
| Short-Term Operating Reserve (STOR) (United Kingdom) | Manual | Variable, 20 min–4 h | 3 MW | n/a (min: 2 h) | Capacity and energy |
| Interruptible Service (Belgium) | Manual | 15 min | 5 MW | 4–12 h | Capacity only |
| Strategic demand reserve (Belgium) | Manual | 90 min | 1 MW | 4 h | Capacity and energy |
| FCR (Finland) | Automatic | 3 min | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| FCR (Sweden) | Automatic | 3 min | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
Table 2. aFRR programs in Europe open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (Country) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aFRR (France) | Automatic | 60–100 s | 1 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| aFRR (Germany) | Automatic | 5 min | 5 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| aFRR (The Netherlands) | Automatic | >30 s | 1 MW | 15 min | Capacity and energy |
| aFRR (Sweden) | Automatic | 120 s | 5 MW | n/a (min 1 h) | Capacity and energy |
| aFRR (Switzerland) | Automatic | 200 s | 5 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| Rapid Reserve (United Kingdom) | Automatic | 2 min | 25 MW | 15 min | Nomination, capacity, and energy |
Table 3. mFRR programs in Europe open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (Country) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mFRR-Reserved Volumes (Belgium) | Manual | 15 min | 1 MW | 2–8 h | Capacity only |
| mFRR-Non-Reserved Volumes (Belgium) | Manual | 15 min | 1 MW | 2–8 h | Energy only |
| mFRR (Denmark) | Manual | 15 min | 5 MW | n/a | Energy only |
| mFRR (Finland) | Manual | 15 min | 5 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| Strategic Reserve (Finland) | Manual | 15 min | 10 MW | n/a | According to contract |
| mFRR (France) | Manual | 13 min | 10 MW | 2 h | Capacity and energy |
| mFRR (Germany) | Manual | 15 min | 1MW | 4 h | Capacity and energy |
| mFRR (The Netherlands) | Manual | 10–15 min | 20 MW | 1 h | Energy only |
| mFRR (Sweden) | Manual | 15 min | 10 MW | n/a | Energy only |
| Strategic Reserve (Sweden) | Manual | 15 min | 5 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
| mFRR (Switzerland) | Manual | 15–35 min | 5 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
Table 4. RR programs in Europe open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (Country) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interruptible Service (Belgium) | Manual | 15 min | 5 MW | 4–12 h | Capacity only |
| Strategic demand reserve (Belgium) | Manual | 90 min | 1 MW | 4 h | Capacity and energy |
| RR (France) | Manual | 30 min | 10 MW | 90 min | Capacity and energy |
| Demand Turn Up (United Kingdom) | Manual | Variable, Average: 6 h | 1 MW | Variable, Average: 4.5 h | Energy only |
| STOR (United Kingdom) | Manual | Variable, 20 min–4 h | 3 MW | n/a (min: 2 h) | Capacity and energy |
2.2. North America
Many North American systems allow DR to access AS markets with similar rules than generation resources to compete to provide capacity. Several TSOs adjusted the technical requirements of these services to match what DRPVs can do. In many other cases, TSOs developed only special programs for DSRs to assure DR participation in front of strong competitors or too demanding technical requirements. At the end of this Section, Table 5 and Table 6 contain the main parameters that characterize North American AS for DR.
Table 5. Normal FERC programs in North America open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (TSO) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Load Following (CAISO) | Manual | 10 min | 0.5 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Regulating Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | Immediate | 0.1 MW | n/a | Security of supply |
| Regulating Reserve (NE-ISO) | Automatic | Immediate | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Regulating Reserve (MISO) | Automatic | 4 s | 1 MW | 60 min | n/a |
| Regulating Reserve (NYISO) | Automatic | Immediate | 1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Regulating Reserve (PJM) | Automatic | Immediate | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity and energy |
CAISO: California independent service operator; ERCOT: electric reliability council of Texas; NE-ISO: New England independent service operator; MISO: Midcontinent independent system operator; NYISO: New York independent system operator; PJM: Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland interconnection LLC.
Table 6. Contingency FERC programs in North America open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (TSO) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinning Reserve (MISO) | Manual | 10 min | 1 MW | n/a | n/a |
| Spinning Reserve (NYISO) | Manual | 10 min | 1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Non-Spinning Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | 10 min | 0.1 MW | 12 h | Security of supply |
| Non-Spinning Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | 10 min | 0.5 MW | 3 h | Security of supply |
| Non-Spinning Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | 10 min | 0.1 MW | 3 h | Security of supply |
| Supplemental Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | 30 min | 0.1 MW | 12 h | Security of supply |
| Supplemental Reserve (ERCOT) | Manual | 30 min | 0.5 MW | 3 h | Security of supply |
| Supplementary Reserve (MISO) | Manual | 10 min | 1 MW | n/a | n/a |
| Supplemental Reserve (NYISO) | Manual | 30 min | 1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Supplemental Reserve (NYISO) | Manual | 2 h | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Day Ahead Scheduling Reserve (PJM) | Manual | 30 min | 0.1 MW | n/a | n/a |
| Synchronized Reserves (PJM) | Manual | 10 min | 0.1 MW | 30 min | n/a |
2.3. Asia and Oceania
In Asia and Oceania, systems partially allow DR to access AS markets to compete with generation resources. Some TSOs adjusted the technical requirements of these services to match what DRPVs can do. But mostly, TSOs developed special programs only for DSRs, to assure DR participation in front of strong competitors or too demanding technical requirements. At the end of this Section, Table 7 contains the main parameters that characterize Asia and Oceania AS for DR.
Table 7. Asian and Oceanian ancillary services open to DR: Main parameters.
| Product/Service (Country) | Type of Activation | TRES | ΔPmin | TMAX | Type(s) of Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulating Reserve (Australia) | Manual | 60 s | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Load Following (Australia) | Manual | 5 min | 0.1 MW | n/a | Capacity only |
| Load Following (South Korea) | Manual | n/a | 0.1 MW | 30 min | Capacity only |
| Load Following (Singapore) | Manual | n/a | 0.1 MW | 30 min | Capacity only |
2.4. Africa and Latin America
Africa and Latin America are also regions with a great DR potential, but DR programs have not yet been developed. Nevertheless, countries like South Africa are investigating and proving the viability of demand side management and the regulation of electricity demand from the consumer side [23].
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/en14040846
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