Assessing the roles of Technology, Policy and Households for Domestic Demand Reponse Adoption

Abstract

In this thesis the potential of demand response among households in The Netherlands is studied. The methodology is based on the conceptual design of an Agent-Based Model for the adoption of domestic demand response by households. From this model the subsequent flexibility in the electricity system will be brought forward.

A review of the current literature has made apparent that the total potential of the flexibility in households is not clear. Previous research has studied the potential in some appliances to perform demand response actions and this has led to some insight in appliance performance as flexibility providers. Moreover, top-down system studies have looked at households consumption and have derived flexibility potential through this method. However, a bottom-up analysis of household potential for demand response has not been performed; let alone for the Dutch electricity system.

Moreover, the willingness of households to adopt domestic demand response has not been researched. This is an important factor in determining the total flexibility that can become available to the system.

The analysis provided some key findings. Firstly, there are at least 7 types of highly prevalent appliances in Dutch households that are suitable for providing flexibility to the grid. High consumption and continuously operating appliances offer the greatest potential in terms of all-time flexibility, but other appliances can still be very useful for peak mitigation. Especially with the low investment costs for "unlocking" the flexibility in these devices over time, a large set of appliances can provide useful flexibility.

Moreover, household analysis showed that most clusters of households already have high importance for energy efficient behaviour and the spread of the number of appliances in households is low.

Finally, the policy analysis provided insight in the types of policy measures that can be encountered in the future. Regulatory change that will make it easier for aggregators and utilities to provide ancillary services with aggregated loads will benefit the system, but are difficult to incorporate in the conceptual design of the model. Providing more insight for consumers into their own consumption and capacity subscriptions are other measures that could motivate households in one way or another to perform domestic demand response. Moreover, some form of mandatory offerings of 'smart' appliances could make sure households have demand response ready appliances in their homes.

By reviewing the technology, policy and consumer behavior, the research has analysed the state of development of domestic demand response. The Diffusion of Innovations theory together with the archetype identification shows which archetypes are more likely to adopt and which archetypes are more likely to be considered opinion leaders.
The influence of different policy measures is seen both in households themselves and their willingness to adopt as with the technologies that will enable providing flexibility.