A market in continuous transformation
The rise of renewables and the growth in global demand for energy on the one hand, and digitalization and the electrification of consumption on the other, are transforming and decentralizing the energy market. In this context, the ability to consume and generate energy shrewdly and flexibly is crucial to businesses’ competitiveness. Demand Response energy efficiency (DR) programs are now the best answer.
The benefits of making the grid more flexible
Demand Response rewards businesses for their willingness to temporarily reduce energy consumption at the request of the network operator during peak periods of demand, thereby making the grid more stable and flexible and ensuring that the energy infrastructure is used more efficiently.
This is a cutting-edge solution that guarantees a balance between supply and demand in a rapid and economically advantageous manner, maximizing returns for grid operators and businesses alike, by decreasing costs and consumption and accelerating the decarbonization process.
Here are some of the main benefits of participating in a Demand Response program:
- Earn money by monetizing flexible energy use
- Obtain lower energy prices by reducing energy usage at peak times when energy costs the most
- Increase visibility on your energy use, helping reduce consumption
- Protect operations from any sudden disruptions
- Make progress on sustainability goals
- Increase energy efficiency
Monitoring use to find the best reduction plan
There is a preparatory phase before a client joins the DR program during which a team of energy management experts works to establish the best way to reduce non-essential energy consumption. Thanks to an automatic system of cloud-based apps, sensors and algorithms, the machinery and equipment that use energy are monitored constantly to establish the energy usage plan that best suits the business. At this stage, many facilities discover that, in order to join the program, they need only shift high energy usage processes by a few hours or transition to backup or storage systems, if available, which further boosts the efficiency of the entire process. This is in part due to the fact that they can see real time consumption monitoring and consumption data in the DR context.
How to boost resilience with Demand Response programs
The program helps to increase companies’ resilience: participants get advance notification of grid stability problems and can prepare themselves to deal with potential outages or blackouts. DR also improves network resilience. As renewable sources become increasingly common, the energy grid must be able to cope with the fluctuations of supply inherent to the nature of natural energy sources. Demand Response programs help align supply of renewable energy with a more flexible management of demand. This makes the energy grid more resilient over all and less exposed to the risk of brownouts or blackouts.
Demand Response for sustainability
We’ve talked about some of the immediate financial and operational advantages companies should consider partnering with us to take part in Demand Response programs. There are also more long-term, strategic factors to consider. The growing importance of renewable sources is part of another long-term process — the battle against climate change and efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular to ensure access to clean, safe and sustainable energy for all. The result of all that is that many businesses now have goals for renewable energy use. What’s more, investors want them to have those goals and some make access to finance conditional on progress toward them.
Demand Response energy efficiency programs are part of the broader energy transition, because they are crucial to making renewable power more user-friendly. Energy sources like solar and wind power are intermittent by their very nature, because they are dependent on the weather. A more flexible energy market allows the grid operator to balance this more unpredictable supply and demand. Participation in a Demand Response program helps companies meet the sustainability targets they have set themselves, reduce carbon emissions and cut waste. It also goes with the grain of current thinking in energy policy circles.
Enel X, the world’s leading operator
With a managed capacity of over 7 GW and a global market share of 12%, Enel X is the world’s leading Demand Response program operator, offering large commercial and industrial customers a complete range of flexible, platform-based, leading-edge solutions. These, based on a 360-degree analysis of their energy portfolio, can maximize financial returns, reduce costs and risk exposure, and help exploit market-specific trends and the regulatory environment in which they operate more efficiently, while at the same time pursuing sustainability goals. Indeed, the benefits of Demand Response energy efficiency affect the entire energy ecosystem. DR enables companies to help make the electricity grid greener, more reliable, more efficient and more economical by limiting peaks in both demand and in price.
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