This October we held the webinar “The flexibility of electricity demand” in collaboration with Bamboo Energy, a pioneering company in the development of software for energy management.
Robert Juanico, energy consultant at Energía Local, and Mattia Barbero, product owner and co-founder of Bamboo Energy, shared their knowledge on how to integrate electricity demand flexibility in companies and how this can help reduce their energy costs.
If you were unable to attend, this article provides a summary of the session and key takeaways.
What is demand side flexibility?
Demand side flexibility (DSF) refers to the ability to change consumption patterns in response to an external signal (price or tariff activation) or to provide a service to the grid or system.
This flexibility allows consumption to be adjusted as much as possible to the price curve and/or the shutdown of non-critical elements at times of peak consumption. In this way, it is possible to have lower prices and avoid excess power, generating savings.
For its operation, it requires systems based on IT technologies that allow both consumption monitoring and automatic and remote management.
In addition, there are two types of flexibility:
- Implicit flexibility: This is the displacement in time of those processes that allow it in order to take advantage of price differentials in the cost of electricity and thus obtain economic savings.
- Explicit flexibility: This consists of providing the electricity system with the flexible capacity of consumers to be able to carry out correct management and guarantee a balance at all times between generation and demand. This case involves the participation of balancing markets.
It should be noted that the two types of flexibility can be carried out simultaneously, although it is necessary to establish a priority.
Which equipment and processes can be made more flexible?
It is important to highlight that all production processes can be flexible if they have the tools to modify the demand curve by adjusting it to electricity prices, without affecting the production process or the service to the final consumer. It is also important to highlight processes with storage, inertia and interruptible processes.
In terms of equipment that can be made more flexible, some examples are:
- Cold rooms
- Electric ovens
- Irrigation and/or pumping equipment
- Emergency generators
- Greenhouses
- Self-consumption batteries
- Air conditioners
Our electricity demand flexibility service
At Energía Local, as consultants specialised in energy and sustainability, we offer a global solution that allows the study of savings and income, as well as flexible management and operation of assets.
This service is carried out in collaboration with Bamboo Energy, a pioneering company in the development of energy management software, with the aim of providing customers with solutions to optimise their consumption.
The electricity demand flexibility service is divided into the following phases
1. Preliminary analysis
In the initial phase, basic information is analysed in order to select the flexible assets and make an initial economic assessment.
2.Flexibility audit
After the initial phase, specific information is analysed, operational parameters are defined and a simulation of activations is carried out.
3.Connectivity audit
The connectivity audit analyses the monitoring and control systems.
4.Economic analysis
In this phase, an economic analysis is carried out to estimate the savings and revenues to be generated.
5.Connection and operation
The last phase consists of connecting the installations and operating them on the platform. Regular monitoring is also carried out.
If you are interested in opting for demand flexibility in your energy operations, we invite you to contact our team for a personal consultation to determine how demand response can be a solution for your energy consumption.
