The rising importance of Demand Response for more efficient green energy
Within the next five years, the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Demand Response (DR) market will experience substantial growth, according to a research report published by Rethink Technology Research.
To save energy and reduce stress on grids, Demand Respond changes the power consumption of an electric utility customer at a specific time, to better match the overall demand for power with the available supply. This is done by moving consumers’ usage to low demand periods, in exchange for cash or discounts for customers who use this function. IoT technologies are the primary enablers of this and, in time, will enable much more advanced use cases.
Promising future for the Demand Response market
According to the Commercial & Industrial Demand Response 2019-2025 research report published by Rethink Technology Research, the C&I DR market shows a promising future. The report gives insights into the increasing amount of energy utility customers who are partaking in DR programs due to the potential revenue streams, with the market being expected to reach a global worth of $12.1bn by 2025.
The study says there is nearly an infinite number of possible combinations or examples to share here, but the short version is that any business process that uses energy is a candidate for DR integrations. Existing equipment can be retrofitted with the measurement and actuation controls needed for DR program participation, and newer IoT-capable processes can be controlled simply via cloud applications.
Due to the growth, it is predicted a capacity of 188 GW will be needed to accommodate for the overall demand. The report further expands on this by breaking down C&I DR into Industrial and Commercial DR accounts, with the first accounting for 91.1% of the total DR footprint in 2025, and the latter accounting for only 8.9% footprint.
However, the report further argues that with appropriate government policy and collective stakeholder guidance, there is potential for the achievable market to be five times larger than originally predicted, up to $60bn.
Develco Products & Demand Response
Demand Response has been an important consideration for Develco Products from the beginning, with many of our products being designed with it in mind. This includes all our smart energy products for energy monitoring and load control, such as meter interfaces and smart relays.
Devices the likes of the Prosumer Meter, the External Meter Interface, or the Smart DIN Relay, can help users remotely monitor and control energy consumption to reduce costs. This assists grid operators with load control, so they can better handle high demand by moving consumption away from peak times or periods when renewable energy is not accessible.
The Squid.link Gateway is also an important part of any smart energy solution looking to apply DR. By bridging wireless devices and meters, solution providers are better equipped to balance and control the impact their consumers have on the overall load, as well as making users aware of what devices consume most energy during peak times.
