Learn how demand response helps Irish businesses cut energy costs, earn revenue, strengthen grid resilience and support renewable energy through a virtual power plant.
Are rising energy costs making your business less competitive? Would a power interruption threaten business continuity? Is your business delivering on its green commitments? When factors outside your control determine electricity costs, it makes sense to maximise the value of what you can control.
Energy is no longer only an overhead. Businesses can earn revenue by being available to reduce or shift electricity use when required. Many sites have more flexibility in their electricity demand than they realise.
What is demand response?
Demand response allows large energy users to temporarily adjust consumption when the grid is under pressure, or increase it when there is plenty of wind or solar power. This helps prevent blackouts, keeps costs down, and enables greater use of wind and solar.
New power plants and grid infrastructure are still essential, but they take time to build. Demand response can move faster because it uses assets and capacity already in place, supporting the system while new infrastructure is developed.
Participating businesses can earn revenue, lower the impact of high-price periods
and get more value from existing infrastructure
Flexibility and widespread power
Enel X, part of the Enel Group, brings this flexibility together through a group of connected energy assets that can quickly help the electricity system when needed. These can include battery energy storage systems, onsite generation and flexible electricity demand.
Globally, the Enel Group manages more than 11GW of demand response capacity across 13 countries. Flexibility operations and grid events across international markets are supported from Enel’s Global Network Operations Centre in Dublin, which operates around the clock.
During the peak of June’s heatwave, Enel X provided almost 573MWh of flexibility to the Irish grid. Enel X calculated that this could power every Dart train in Dublin, or meet the electricity needs of up to 7,500 typical households, for the week-long heatwave.
Power your business and the grid
Participating businesses can earn revenue, lower the impact of high-price periods and get more value from existing infrastructure. Participants include data centres and businesses across sectors such as pharmaceuticals and aggregates. They invest heavily in backup energy infrastructure to meet their reliability requirements. Some of that capacity can support the grid at times of pressure while continuing to deliver their operations.
Demand response should be a core part of Ireland’s energy security toolkit. It can reduce costs for the State and consumers, make the electricity system more reliable, reduce pressure at the busiest times and create revenue for participating businesses.
Enel X provides demand response and virtual power plant solutions in Ireland. You can reach Enel X at [email protected] or visit enelx.ie
