Exploiting demand-side flexibility: State-of-the-art, open issues and social perspective

Demand-side flexibility will play a key role in reaching high levels of renewable generation and making the transition to a more sustainable energy system. Indeed, end users can actively contribute to grid balancing and management, if equipped with energy management systems and communication infrastructure. Demand response programmes encompass a broad range of load management measures, such as direct or indirect load control, aimed at adapting end users’ consumption to grid needs. However, the flexibility potential of the demand side has not yet been fully exploited. The demand response programmes have not been fully realised in practice and different barriers are yet to be addressed properly. Among others, these include a fragmented regulatory framework, the lack of market products suitable for small end users, and the lack of common measurement and quantification methodologies. The present article provides an overview on the state-of-the-art of demand response programmes and their current implementation. Measurement and verification methodologies are also presented with a special focus on baseline estimation methodologies for quantifying the flexibility provided by the demand side through demand response programmes. Alongside technical and regulatory aspects, the social perspective on demand response is investigated through a quantitative survey carried out in four different European countries: Denmark, France, Italy and Spain. Finally, open issues and research gaps are identified and analysed to provide recommendations for future research activities.