Paradigm change of the Demand Side Management

Abstract

In the changing energy market environment the weather-dependent producers’ production does not always match consumption. There are several options for regulating the excess power (storage, gas engine operation, secondary regulation market [mFRR], demand side management of consumers, etc.). The simultaneous production of peak energy is expensive and may run into capacity constraints. At the same time, storage involves significant losses, additional costs and environmental impact. The previous paradigm, i.e. “Use more electricity at night!” has changed significantly, instead it is more appropriate to implement the “Consume more energy in case of excess production!” principle (e.g. solar production during the day). We are currently investigating which solution is the most favorable in terms of environmental impact.With Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can be shown that the Smart Demand Side Management (DSM) solution has a significantly lower environmental load and material consumption than the use of energy storage or other regulated power plants. With calculations performed by university students, we show how the storage and regulation of excess solar energy production and the matching of consumption with production relate to each other. All this is facilitated by the lower cost and the necessary Internet communication network available in more and more places anyway.