The Terna Pilot Project
Expectations are rising in anticipation of the next stages in the Terna pilot project, which this time will involve mixed Virtual Power Plants that include both non-relevant producing units including energy storage systems, and consuming units. In accordance with resolution 583/17, by 9 April 2018 Terna must submit to the Energy Authority an experimental project that involves mixed Virtual Power Plants in the Dispatching Services Market (MSD), taking into consideration the initial results produced by the pilot projects that involved the implementation of the virtual consuming units and virtual producing units, with the aim of achieving the technological neutrality desired by the Authority to promote access to, and participation in, the Dispatching Services Market.
The EnerNOC Effect
Enel aims to continue to lead the way as it has done thus far. In fact, in the Terna trial project, Enel enabled a capacity of over 80 MW from industrial and commercial clients, and at the most recent 2018 auctions it acquired 56 MW of flexibility, confirming its status as one of the most important players in the development and diffusion of new, advanced energy services. In line with our activities in other countries, where our acquisition of EnerNOC has helped make us the world leader in Demand Response, managing 5.7 GW and with a gross margin at the end of 2017 of over 80 million euros, in Italy we have started to assemble the first Demand Response portfolio with the aim of providing support for grid stability by modulating consumption. With this new experimental phase, Terna has also been able to test the reliability of the new demand response services.
Moving into Spain and Latin America
Thanks to the intermediary role played by companies like Enel X, commercial and industrial clients have received balancing requests to stabilise the grid on the basis of their availability to implement the service. All this reflects a significant paradigm shift in energy dispatch in Italy, given that just over six months ago only electricity generation facilities could participate in the services market, while now demand response and distributed generation are also possible thanks to aggregators such as Enel. During these months of experimental operations we have come into contact with a number of clients, and they have expressed significant interest in the new energy services offered. We are confident that many more will want to participate in this new model and we aim to begin similar activities in Spain and Latin America.
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