Increased demand-side flexibility: market effects and impacts on variable renewable energy integration

This paper investigates the effect of increased demand-side flexibility (DSF) on integration and market value of variable renewable energy sources (VRE). Using assumed potentials, system-optimal within-day shifts in demand are investigated for the Northern European power markets in 2030, applying a comprehensive partial equilibrium model with high temporal and spatial resolution. Increased DSF is found to cause only a minor (less than 3%) reduction in consumers’ cost of electricity. VRE revenues are found to increase (up to 5% and 2% for wind and solar power, respectively), and total VRE curtailment decreases by up to 7.2 TWh. Increased DSF causes only limited reductions in GHG emissions. The emission reduction is, however, sensitive to underlying assumptions. We conclude that increased DSF is a promising measure for improving VRE integration. However, low consumers’ savings imply that policies stimulating DFS will be needed to fully use the potential benefits of DSF for VRE integration.

本文探究了需求侧灵活性（DSF）提升对可变可再生能源（VRE）整合及市场价值的影响。基于假设潜力，本文针对2030年北欧电力市场，采用具有高时间与空间分辨率的综合局部均衡模型，研究了需求在日内的系统最优转移。研究发现，DSF提升仅导致消费者用电成本小幅降低（降幅不足3%）。VRE收益有所增加（其中风电与太阳能发电收益分别提升至多5%和2%），且VRE总弃电量减少至多7.2太瓦时。DSF提升对温室气体排放的削减作用有限，然而减排效果对基础假设较为敏感。本文得出结论，DSF提升是改善VRE整合的一项有前景的措施，但消费者节余较低，这意味着需出台政策激励DSF，以充分发挥其在VRE整合中的潜在效益。