Abstract
This article presents a case study on a demand response (DR) pilot project dealing with the application of DR in a grocery store with the utilization of refrigeration equipment as energy storage and photovoltaics (PV) as an energy source. DR has recently gained increased interest due to the growing penetration of intermittent renewable energy requiring flexibility in power consumption. The smart power grid enables the introduction of novel solutions to increase flexibility and the entrance of new actors into the markets. Developing new solutions for the mainstream markets requires experimentation in real-life settings serving the development of technological capabilities, necessary policies and regulation, and user and market needs, as well as adaptation of and to infrastructure and maintenance systems. Our case study on a DR pilot in a grocery store in Northern Finland focuses on how the project contributes to knowledge on the potential for DR and scaling up. It was found that energy efficiency, DR, and self-generated PV power can be aligned and even enhance the potential for DR. While mature technologies exist, applications and installations have not yet been standardized to enable rapid scaling up, and current DR market rules and practices fail to accommodate for small electricity consumers.
Highlights
The development of an intelligent electricity system is progressing well in most European countries
The research questions for our case study are: how does the pilot project contribute to knowledge on the potential for demand response (DR) for the future development of the Nordic energy market? In which different ways can pilot projects scale up? We focus on the lessons learned in the Virtual Service Environment (VSE) and the following upscaling of the pilot
We explore how a large wholesale-retail chain learns about demand response through piloting, and what barriers and opportunities it experiences for scaling up demand response solutions from its pilots in different ways
Summary
The development of an intelligent electricity system is progressing well in most European countries. Demand response (DR) as such is an old concept, novel DR solutions made possible by the smart grid technologies hold the promise to support the transformation of the energy market. Pilot projects in real-life conditions are crucial for the learning required for market deployment of innovative technologies like DR solutions and practices [21,23]. Experimentation in the field, such as the VSE pilot, serves as a way to explore user and market requirements for solutions, explore the compatibility of new solutions with existing infrastructure and regulation, gain experience of social and environmental impacts, as well as develop cultural meaning for novel solutions [21]. Transformation relates to processes where the pilot shapes wider institutional change (in the case of demand response solutions, for example, the market rules and incentives for various demand response services that power users can provide, such as load shedding or frequency regulation reserves)
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