Electric demand response in the industry to tackle the energy crisis
What is an energy consumption curtailment contract?
In other words, it is a contract between a company and an electricity transmission network (also called TSO). The company commits, at the request of the TSO, to temporarily cut a part of its energy consumption. In exchange for this commitment, the TSO will pay a fee to the signing company.
The load shedding contract with a company is different from distributed load shedding, which involves cutting off electricity for a large number of “small consumers”, such as individual households.
Why choose the curtailment contract for the industry sector?
In order to be able to continuously provide energy during these peaks, it is necessary to be able to reduce consumption in other areas.
Industrials can subscribe to a curtailment contract with the electricity distribution network operator. Through this contract, they receive a signal asking them to “curtail”.
The network operator subscribes to “insurance” with the industrial customer. They will pay a certain amount so that, if the industrial customer finds themselves in a situation where they need to curtail their consumption, they can ask the industrial customer to reduce part of their consumption. The main advantage of this system is to secure the electricity network.
The network operator is not certain that they will need to ask the industrial customer to curtail, but if needed, the implementation of this insurance ensures that they can instantly respond to electricity supply needs.
Why is the demand response contract particularly suitable for the industry sector?
Methods of implementing the energy curtailment contract in the industry
You determine the amount of energy that can be cut on demand when establishing the contract. However, it is not about completely cutting off your production. This is why it is important to identify which sector of the company, or the chain, the installations can be paused.
This saving can be achieved by using alternative energies, such as generators, or by pausing part of the chain, sometimes using a buffer stock to cushion the temporary drop in production.
To clarify the industrial electrical curtailment contract, let’s take an example:
- An factory with 4 production lines subscribes to a curtailment contract with a curtailment operator.
- It receives the order from this operator to make its curtailment capacity available to the electrical network.
- The curtailment contract specifies that the company must curtail x GW, which therefore requires the company to stop a production line. This system can be managed in two different ways:
- Either the industrial facility has the ability to stop a production line and therefore, when asked to stop the line, it can do so immediately.
- Or it is equipped with electricity production already in place on site with generators. When asked to curtail part of the consumption, it starts the generators to ensure the production of electricity to power the production line.
- The counterpart is that the factory will receive income in return for having carried out this curtailment.
Why is the electricity curtailment contract particularly important today?
The first one is that energy consumption is becoming increasingly difficult to predict, with heating systems gradually turning back on, the government encouraging energy savings, and ecological awareness leading to changes in French habits. Therefore, it is important for the TSOs to have increased flexibility to meet this evolving objective.
The second reason is the upcoming winter. Energy suppliers anticipate an increase in demand, as well as energy shortages. Indeed, with the context of the war in Russia, some energy circuits will no longer supply households in Europe. It will be necessary to find ways to reduce France’s energy consumption and continue to supply homes while limiting the use of the most polluting energies, such as coal.
How Dametis helps you obtain a better demand response contract?
Implementing the principles of energy efficiency
Dametis takes you further than just energy savings. Once your needs are assessed, we advise you on either reducing your energy consumption to qualify for an energy curtailment contract, or increasing your production without using more energy.
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- We identify your equipment, your industrial process, and their electrical consumption.
- We detect opportunities for flexibility in the most energy-intensive equipment.
- We define the potential for curtailment of your site taking into account the production constraints of your site.
- We explore ways to optimize the curtailment potential of your site.
The considered alternatives
– The installations that can be temporarily paused
– The amount of infrastructure that can continue running using alternative energy sources, such as your generator.
This information is crucial, as accurately measuring the amount of energy you can do without enables you to achieve the highest return with your RTE.