On 10 – 11 September 2015, IRGC and the Energy Center of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) jointly organised an international public conference and expert workshop on the challenges and opportunities for demand response in the context of energy transitions.
Energy transitions towards decarbonised energy systems with increasing share of intermittent renewable energy call for a paradigm shift in the power sector, in particular that demand profiles increasingly follow electricity generation rather than the other way round. This form of power system flexibility can be achieved through demand response, which involves temporary changes in electricity consumption typically in response to price signals or other financial incentives, or in reaction to grid conditions.
While demand response has gained traction among diverse stakeholders in the electricity industry in some countries, widespread uptake of demand response measures remains slow due to uncertainties, whether economic, technological, social or regulatory. It is not certain, for instance, to what extent demand response is a viable alternative to investment in conventional peak capacity or grid reinforcement, or whether affordable storage would develop so fast as to make demand response quickly obsolete.
Featuring speakers from industry, the public sector as well as academia, the conference and workshop sought to provide a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary overview of the opportunities and risks associated with demand response:
- The actual and potential contribution of different types of demand response to power system flexibility, security of supply, and to facilitating energy transitions
- Key enablers and barriers for achieving demand response potential, including regulatory and market developments, technological and business innovations, and consumer behaviour
- International practices for measurement and verification, and demand response integration in market and network operations.
Presentations
Conference Session 1: The need for demand response in the context of energy transitions and governance considerations
Session chair: Prof. Ortwin Renn, Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY-TRANS
- Pierre Bornard, RTE
Demand Response in Europe: We Need It But How Can We Deliver for Real - Konstantinos Stamatis, European Commission, DG Energy
Demand response in the EU framework and Summer Package - Dr. Matthias Galus, Swiss Federal Office of Energy
Flexibility in Power Systems – The Role of Smart Grids, Models for Coordination and Regulation - Anne-Sophie Chamoy, Energy Pool
Regulatory Barriers to Demand Response Deployment - Prof. Shmuel S. Oren, University of California at Berkeley
A Historical Perspective and Business Model for Demand Response through Load Control Aggregation
Conference Session 2: Practical solutions for implementing demand response: Multi-stakeholder perspectives
Session chair: Prof. Daniel Favrat, EPFL Energy Center
- Jessica Stromback, Smart Energy Demand Coalition
The Status of Demand Response in Europe - Charles Goldman, Lawrence National Berkeley Lab
Customer Acceptance, Retention and Response to Time-based Rates from Consumer Behavior Studies at 10 U.S. Utilities - Dr. Alexandre Oudalov, ABB
The Value of Demand Response - Christophe Bossel, BKW
BKW’s Experience with Demand Side Integration - Prof. Mario Paolone and Prof. Jean-Yves LeBoudec, EPFL
The Use of Demand Response in Distribution Grids Ancillary Services - Dr. Arthur Janssen, Swissgrid AG
Market Design Changes to Better Integrate Demand Side Management and Flexibility
Workshop Session 1: Assessment of demand response potential, and willingness and ability to participate
Session chairs: Marie-Valentine Florin, IRGC and François Vuille, EPFL Energy Center
- Matthias Stifter, Austrian Institute of Technology and IEA DSM Task 17
A Critical Perspective on International Demonstration Projects, Results and Their Scalability - Frieder Borggrefe, German Aerospace Center DLR
Integration of Renewable Energies – Flexibility Options from Demand Side Management - Flavia Gangale, European Commission Joint Research Centre
Consumer Engagement in Demand Response Projects: Lessons Learned and Recent Developments - Prof. Gabriela Hug, ETH Zurich
Industrial Demand Response as a Source for Operational Flexibility
Workshop Session 2: Identification of effective business models to capture the value of demand response
Session chair: Dr. Lorenzo Massa, EPFL College of Management of Technology
- Sabine Erlinghagen, EnerNOC
Engaging Utilities in Demand Response - Mitchell Curtis, University of Reading and Kiwi Power
Overview of the UK Demand Response Market - Alicia Carrasco, Siemens
Transactive Energy and Flexibility
Workshop Session 3: Adaptation of electricity market design and regulation to foster demand response
Session chair: Dr. Arthur Janssen, Swissgrid AG
- Chloe Latour, RTE
Opening Markets to Demand Response: Lessons Learned from the French Experience - Prof. Shmuel S. Oren, University of California at Berkeley
Smart Markets for a Smart Electricity Grid: The US Standard Market Design - Christelle Verstraeten, International Energy Agency
The Transition to a Low-Carbon Power System and the Role of Demand Response
Contact
Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact:
Dr. François Vuille, EPFL Energy Center, f.vuille@epfl .ch, +41 21 693 24 73