Obstacles to Demand Response : Why Industrial Companies Do Not Adapt Their PowerConsumption to Volatile Power Generation

Title data

Leinauer, Christina ; Schott, Paul ; Fridgen, Gilbert ; Keller, Robert ; Ollig, Philipp ; Weibelzahl, Martin:
Obstacles to Demand Response : Why Industrial Companies Do Not Adapt Their PowerConsumption to Volatile Power Generation.
In: Energy Policy. Vol. 165 (2022) . - 112876.
ISSN 0301-4215
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112876

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Abstract in another language

Various flexibility options in power systems, such as storage, grid expansion, anddemand flexibility, gain increasing importance to balance the intermittent power supplyof renewables. On the demand side, in particular, the industrial sector representspromising potential for Demand Response, i.e., the alignment of its power demand withthe current power supply of renewables. However, there exist various obstacles thatcurrently prevent companies from investing in new or (fully) exploiting existing flexibilitypotentials. In this paper, we investigate how economic, regulatory, technological,organizational, behavioral, informational, and competence obstacles pose obstacles forcompanies to adjust their power consumption flexibly. For this purpose, we combineboth a structured literature analysis and a case study. For the case study, we conduct16~interviews with energy experts from companies from different industries. Ourfindings reveal, that due to technical risk of disrupting the production process, lackingrevenues, and too low cost savings, companies do not flexibilize their powerconsumption. Moreover, in particular, contradictory legislative incentives and missingIT standardization and interoperability represent obstacles. Therefore, our resultsconstitute a basis for targeted policy making in order to foster the (existing) flexibilitypotential of industrial companies on the demand side.