A Review of Drivers and Barriers for Demand Side Flexibility : The perspective of electric grid customers

(1)

Linköping University | Department of Management and Engineering Master’s thesis, 30 ECTS M.Sc. – Energy-Environment-Management Spring 2020 | LIU-IEI-TEK-A–20/03673—SE ´

A Review of

Drivers and Barriers for Demand Side Flexibility

- The perspective of electric grid customers

Authors: Maria Berg & Karin Böris

Supervisor: Maria Andersson / Linköping University

Company Supervisor: Sebastian Jansson / E.ON Energidistribution Examiner: Magnus Karlsson / Linköping University

2020-05-20

Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden +46 013 28 10 00, www.liu.se

(2)

Abstract

The thesis aims to obtain a holistic perspective of opportunities, drivers and barriers that different grid customers experience when enabling demand side flexibility. Due to the increasing problems of capacity shortage of electricity in large cities in Sweden, solutions on the demand side of the electric power grid have become increasingly interesting. Demand side flexibility is a voluntary change of demanded electricity from the grid due to some kind of incentive, which can help support balancing the electric power grid to avoid capacity shortages. Furthermore, the energy transition towards a decentralised power system with an increasing share of variable renewable energy requires a changed demand profile.

In this research, a qualitative research methodology was applied. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with case companies within the industry and property company segment. Interviews were also conducted with three actors on the electric power market providing services to aggregate the potential of smaller flexibility resources, as well as with an expert from the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate. A State of the Art review was completed in order to collect theory and draft previously identified aspects of demand side flexibility.

The result shows that the concept is not unknown amongst electricity customers. However, there is a limited knowledge and interest in enabling demand side flexibility. The knowledge gap includes the awareness of potential flexibility resources as well as business opportunities of providing flexibility services. Conflicting priorities within organisations also presents an important barrier, where other easier and more profitable measures may be prioritised. There is also a fear of disrupting core business by causing loss of quality, comfort or production, which proposes a barrier.

To overcome mentioned barriers and increase flexibility the financial benefits have to be distinctive and clear. Further, case companies express an ambition of contribution to the environment and sustainable development. By increasing the awareness of the benefits which increased flexibility induces, electricity consumers can become more motivated in adapting a flexible consumption. In addition, case companies express a desire of being early adopters in order to prevent future forced participation or termination of business.

In order to enable demand side flexibility the knowledge and interest of the concept must increase. This should be done by providing clear, comprehensible information about the business opportunities of demand side flexibility as well as showcasing successful examples of implementation. Furthermore, it should include suggestions of easy, economical measures different grid customers could carry out to increase their flexibility. By providing this information the interest in flexibility can increase, thus increase the implementation and participation.

(3)

Sammanfattning

Syftet med denna uppsats är att erhålla en helhetsbild av de möjligheter, drivkrafter och hinder som elnätskunder upplever vid möjliggörande av efterfrågeflexibilitet. På grund av allt oftare förekommande kapacitetsbrister i stora städer i Sverige har intresset för att hitta lösningar på efterfrågesidan av elnätet ökat. Efterfrågeflexibilitet är en frivillig ändring av efterfrågad electricitet från elnätet på grund av någon typ av incitament och kan därmed hjälpa till att balansera elnätet för att motverka kapacitetsbrister. Dessutom bidrar energiomställningen med nya krav på efterfrågad elektricitet från elnätet genom en ökad decentralisering av kraftsystemet och en ökad andel fluktuerande, förnybara energikällor.

I denna rapport användes en kvalitativ forskningsmetodik. Totalt genomfördes elva semistrukturerade intervjuer med företag inom industri- och fastighetsbranschen. Intervjuer genomfördes även med tre elnätsaktörer som kan bidra med tjänster för att aggregera potentialen av flera små flexibilitetsresurser, samt en expert från Energimarknadsinspektionen. En State of the Art skapades för att sammanställa teori och viktiga aspekter gällande efterfrågeflexibilitet.

Resultatet visar att konceptet efterfrågeflexibilitet inte är helt okänt bland elnätskunder. Dock finns det en begränsad kunskap och intresse för att möjliggöra flexibilitet. Kunskapsbristen inkluderar vilka flexibla resurser elnätskunderna kan bidra med samt vilka affärsmöjligheter efterfrågeflexibilitet kan innebära. Motstridiga prioriteringar inom organisationer presenteras också som ett hinder, där andra åtgärder som är mer lönsamma och lättare att genomföra kommer att prioriteras. Elnätskunderna har också en rädsla att störa kärnverksamheten genom att minska kvalitet på produkter, äventyra komfort eller störa produktionen.

För att överkomma nämnda hinder och öka flexibiliteten måste de ekonomiska fördelarna vara tydliga. Vidare uttrycker de studerade företagen en ambition om att vara miljövänliga och bidra till en hållbar utveckling. Genom att öka medvetenheten om de fördelar som ökad flexibilitet medför kan elnätskunder bli mer motiverade till att anpassa sin elkonsumtion för att bistå med flexibilitetstjänster. Dessutom uttrycker de studerade företagen en önskan om att anpassa sig i ett tidigt stadie för att förhindra att de blir tvingade till att justera sin elanvändning eller att delta i flexibilitetsmarknader i framtiden.

För att möjliggöra efterfrågeflexibilitet måste elnätskundernas kunskap och intresse ökas. Det kan genomföras genom att tillhandahålla tydlig information om affärsmöjligheter samt genom att presentera framgångsrika exempel på efterfrågeflexibilitet. Informationen bör dessutom inkludera enkla och ekonomiska åtgärder som olika elnätskunder kan genomföra. Därmed kan de motiveras till att identifiera sina flexibilitetspotential och ingå i en marknadsplats för efterfrågeflexibilitet.

(4)

Preface

This thesis completes our Master of Science in Energy-Environment-Management at Linköping University. The purpose of this the has been to contribute to the pursuit of enabling demand side flexibility in the Swedish electric power grid.

We would like to express our gratitude towards all the respondents from the case companies, who have made this thesis possible by sharing their valuable knowledge and thoughts. We would also want to thank the three respondents from the actors providing aggregating services, as well as Marielle Lahti from Energimarknadsinspektionen, for their valuable insights into the current situation of demand side flexibility.

Furthermore, we want to address our appreciation towards our employer E.ON Energidistribution, especially Christoffer Isendahl and our supervisor Sebastian Jansson, for giving us the opportunity to write this master thesis as well as providing us with encouragements and invaluable advice.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank our supervisor Maria Andersson and examiner Magnus Karlsson at Linköping University, for guiding us in the right direction and providing helpful feedback. Finally, we would like to pay our gratitude to our opponents Amanda Eckegren and Lisa Malmsten for continuously providing us with valuable inputs and constructive advice on our thesis.

(5)

List of Figures

2.1 A simplified overview of the method applied. . . 5

3.1 The four bidding areas in Sweden. . . 19

(11)

List of Tables

2.1 The research questions and applied research method. . . 13

4.1 Previously identified opportunities for demand side flexibility. . . 43

4.2 Previously identified drivers for demand side flexibility. . . 44

4.3 Previously identified barriers to demand side flexibility. . . 45

4.4 Previously identified enablers for demand side flexibility. . . 47

5.1 Property case companies’ perception of demand side flexibility. . . 49

5.2 Industry case companies’ perception of demand side flexibility. . . 51

5.3 Opportunities perceived by property case companies. . . 53

5.4 Opportunities perceived by industry case companies. . . 56

5.5 Drivers perceived by property case companies. . . 59

5.6 Drivers perceived by industry case companies. . . 63

5.7 Barriers perceived by property case companies. . . 65

5.8 Barriers perceived by industry case companies. . . 72

6.1 An overview of mentioned opportunities and associated barriers. The indicator outcome represents the number of respondents as well as the belonged segment which mentioned the opportunity. . . 88

6.2 An overview of mentioned drivers identified in earlier research as well as answers from case companies. The indicator outcome represents the number of respondents as well as the belonged segment which mentioned the opportunity. . . 94

6.3 An overview of mentioned barriers identified in earlier research as well as answers from case companies. The indicator outcome represents the number of respondents as well as the belonged segment which mentioned the opportunity. . . 100

(12)

(13)

List of Abbreviations

BRP Balance Responsible Party

DR Demand Response

DSO Distribution System Operator Ei Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate

EV Electric Vehicle

HVAC Heating ventilation Air-Conditioning

PV Photovoltac

SvK Svenska Kraftnät

TSO Transmission System Operator

VRE Variable Renewable Energy

(14)

List of Definitions

Aggregator

An actor of the electric power system providing an aggregating service towards the electricity market.

Capacity Shortage

There is not enough provided power to meet the electricity demand locally. Consumer

An actor in the electric power system demanding electricity from the grid. Conventional electricity generation

A central, controllable and non-weather dependent energy generation source such as coal and hydro power plants.

Demand Side Flexibility

Grid customers providing a service towards the grid by changing the demand for electricity from their normal consumption pattern, caused by an incentive.

Distribution system operator (DSO)

The DSO is the distribution grid operator responsible for distributing electricity from the transmission grid or producers to its customers.

Electric Power

Power is an instantaneous quantity that cannot be stored but is the capacity of energy, the rate of doing work, in contrast to electric energy that can be stored.

Electric Power Grid

The electric power grid, also referred to as the grid, provides electrical power to an extended area. The grid system includes generators to supply power, transmission system to transfer power from the source to the area where the load is located, as well a distribution system to locally distribute the power to nearby facilities.

Electric Power System

A network of electrical components to supply, transfer and use electrical power. Grid Customer

An actor in the electric power system, a consumer or local generator of electricity, with a business relation with the grid operator.

Power Capacity

The maximal amount of electrical power the grid can deliver over a certain transmission station.

(15)

Power Shortage

There is not enough generated power to meet the electricity demand.

Prosumer

An electricity consumer that is also able to generate electricity through a small-scale local generation source.

Renewable Energy

Electricity generated from the capture of on-going natural energy flows such as solar radiation, wind and flowing water.

Transmission System Operator (TSO)

Operator responsible for the security of supply and the high-voltage grid. The TSO have the ultimate responsibility on the imbalance settlement.

Variable Renewable Energy (VRE)

Energy generation from a renewable energy source that is intermittent, meaning it fluctuates and can be partially unavailable, such as the solar radiation and wind.

(16)

1. Introduction

This chapter serves to give a brief background of the problem and the motivation of why the thesis is of importance. This is followed with a presentation of the thesis purpose, research questions as well as delimitations and outline of the report.

1.1 Background

Electric power systems all over the world are currently undergoing significant changes as a result of increasing decentralisation of power systems, distributed generation as well as more price-responsive and active energy consumers (Carlini et al., 2019). The electricity grid existing today is optimized for handling a large constant baseload with a central grid structure, based on conventional energy generation plants such as coal and nuclear power. When phasing out today’s conventional power plants and replacing it with variable renewable energy (VRE), such as wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV), certain properties which are contributing to the grid’s stability will be lost (Power Circle, 2019).

By increasing the share of VRE, which has an intermittent generation, the grid must be able to handle a new supply profile that may vary during the day, season and year. The increase of VRE generation will make the energy balance and voltage regulation more difficult since it provides electricity that is less reliable and more decentralized (Svenska Kraftnät, 2015). According to Svenska Kraftnät (2015), this will result in decreased voltage support which will affect the capacity and reliability of the system. In addition, the demand side of the electrical power system will in the coming decades experience an increased load as the industry and transportation sectors are further electrified to reduce the use of fossil fuels (Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b).

Today, large cities in Sweden are suffering from periods of electrical capacity shortage. This issue stems from an increased electricity usage as well as a fast reduction of locally produced electric power due to shutdowns of cogeneration plants (Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b). This has been increasingly reported in media, such as in Ny Teknik (Brand Arena, 2019) and Svenskt Näringsliv (Bergström, 2018), as a threat to the economic growth and electrification of companies as well as whole regions. This meaning that limited power capacity over certain stations in the grid will not allow for high electrical power peaks during some hours of the year, mainly during cold winters. This is a pressing problem that has increased the need for a rapid solution to prevent capacity shortage. By lowering the need of electricity transmission and distribution over certain stations, one of the solutions being demand side flexibility (Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b). Demand side flexibility can be described as an adjustment of demanded electricity from the grid due to an incentive (Swedish Energy Market

(17)

Inspectorate, 2016b).

E. ON Energi Distribution is a regional DSO in Sweden that, together with other important actors in the electric power system, are investigating how the current issues of capacity shortage can be solved. These actors are trying to increase the flexibility of several companies and residents by providing a market opportunity of trading flexible electricity consumption or production. Although the incentives are increased by this market solution, the problem remains in attracting electricity consumers that are interested in increasing their consumption flexibility. Therefore, more knowledge of which drivers and barriers grid customers have to become more flexible is needed to solve the issues of capacity shortage and long-term integration of more renewable electricity generation.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of the thesis is to obtain a holistic perspective of the opportunities, drivers, and barriers that grid customers experience when enabling demand side flexibility. Hence, the aim is to conduct a mapping of customers’ situation from an economical, operational, organisational, and technical point of view. The mapping will provide a basis for strategic decisions to increase customer’s participation in a market platform for flexibility.

1.2.1 Research Questions

The study will be focusing on one main question which has been divided into sub-questions. The sub-questions will be used to answer the main question.

1. How can grid customers become participants in a market platform for demand side flexibility? (a) What is grid customers’ current perception of the concept demand side flexibility? (b) What are the opportunities for grid customers to increase demand side flexibility?

(c) What drivers and barriers do grid customers experience when enabling, implementing and participating in trading of demand side flexibility?

(d) How can barriers be diminished and drivers strengthened?

1.3 Delimitations

The thesis will focus on demand side flexibility which can be defined in various ways. The following definition has been chosen:

(18)

Demand side flexibility is a voluntary change in the demand for electricity from the grid during shorter or longer periods, caused by some type of incentive (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate,

2016b)

The definition of flexibility may differ from others that are only focusing on the electricity consumption of the grid customers. The reason for choosing the definition is because the electricity consumption of the customer may not be the same as the demanded electricity from the grid. This is because the customer can have storage capabilities or electricity production. The flexibility services included in demand side flexibility are flexible electric consumption, energy storage and small-scale electric generation. Therefore, the thesis will not cover the supply side flexibility with the flexible generation, power grid expansion or sector coupling through energy conversion. Further explanation of flexibility will be presented in section 3.3 Flexibility.

The type of flexibility in focus is explicit flexibility, meaning the customer will change the demanded electricity from the grid directly as a response to an external signal. Implicit flexibility, that is the indirect response to variable energy retail prices, which is less suitable for the thesis. Further explanation of the two types of flexibility can be found in chapter 3.3.4 Explicit and Implicit Flexibility.

To gain a holistic perspective, a broad range of customers will be examined though limited to two customer segments: industry and property company. The investigated customer segments are important actors in the electric power system since they are large electricity consumers. Therefore, other customer segments such as household customers, will not be investigated since their individual electricity consumption is low.

1.4 Outline of Report

1. Introduction

The introduction chapter aims to present the background to the thesis for the reader to understand the relevance of the studied field. This is followed with a presentation of the thesis purpose, the research questions that the thesis aims to answer as well as the delimitations taken to limit the study.

2. Methodology

In this chapter, the methodology used for the work process of the thesis is presented. This includes research method, data collection and analysis process. How to ensure the credibility of the research is also reviewed.

(19)

3. Theory

In this chapter, the theoretical context for this study is introduced for the reader to receive an understanding of the field studied. This includes a description of the Swedish electric power grid and its ongoing challenges as well as a descriptive introduction to flexibility.

4. Demand Side Flexibility - State of the Art

The State of the Art of demand side flexibility aims to give the reader an understanding of the current research within the field. The research has focused on opportunities, drivers and barriers an electricity customer within the studied customer segments may experience when implementing demand side flexibility. The chapter also presents actions for enabling flexibility.

5. Case Study Result

In this chapter, the result obtained from the conducted interview is presented. This includes case companies perception of demand side flexibility, perceived opportunities, drivers and barriers as well as actions for enabling flexibility. The obtained result of grid customers’ perception of demand side flexibility aims to answer RQ1a. The results from the interviews with aggregators and an expert are also presented.

6. Comparative Analysis

The chapter serves to analyse the obtained result from the State of the Art and from the interviews to identify similarities and differences. The chapter will highlight important aspects, validate the quality of the research and present a foundation for answering RQ1b and RQ1c.

7. How to Enable Demand Side Flexibility

In this chapter, measures for enabling demand side flexibility are discussed. The chapter lifts important measures obtained from the data collection process, the literature study and interviews with case companies, aggregators and the expert from the Swedish Electricity Market Inspectorate. This is analysed in order to answer RQ1d.

8. Discussion

In this chapter, an interpretation and implication of the result are discussed. This will include a critical examination of the reason for differentiated results in state of the art and the case studies made for the thesis in terms of the methodology used and delimitation.

9. Conclusion

The final chapter will answer the research questions and present the concluding remark of the thesis. Recommendations for future research will also be presented.

(20)

2. Methodology

The following chapter aims to describe the research methodology applied for the study. The chapter will begin with an introduction of the work process and research strategy, followed by a description of the data collection and interpretation process. Lastly, how the credibility of the applied methodology is ensured will be presented.

2.1 Work Process

The thesis study began in January where expected outcomes were discussed between supervisors and the authors of this thesis. This process determined the initial aims and deadlines which served as a basis for work process development. The work process has been iterative to be able to develop and form the project over time as more knowledge was gathered. In the beginning, there was not a clear picture of the desired outcome and the subject was relatively new for the researchers of the thesis therefore, an iterative process was decided to be suitable. The process can be visualized in the overview presented in figure 2.1.

(21)

2.2 Research Method

Qualitative research method with case studies was decided to be the most appropriate method to apply to be able to receive an understanding of customers’ perception of demand side flexibility. In this section the method will be further explained.

2.2.1 Qualitative Research Method

A qualitative research method is a way to explore and describe the meaning of people’s behaviour and situations as well as explore new research areas (Leavy, 2014). The method enables the researchers to obtain data through conversational communication and creates an understanding of what is occurring (Gillham, 2000). Since this study is performed within a novel and contemporary area, and the purpose is to gather deep and detailed knowledge about grid customers flexibility the qualitative approach was decided to be the most suitable.

According to Leavy (2014), common research methods for data collection when using a qualitative approach are in-depth interview, semi-structured interviews, focus group interview, case study, visual methods as well as document analysis. The selection of the research method was made in line with the purpose and research questions of the study and a qualitative case study research was chosen.

2.2.2 Case Study Research

A case study is a useful tool when exploring and understanding how and why things occur. It can be used to determine important aspects when implementing a program as well as when analysing patterns (Yin, 2014; Simons, 2009). The approach appeals to the subjective way of knowing and captures experimental understanding (Leavy, 2014). There are several definitions of case studies, however, the definition used for the thesis is the following:

Case study is an in-depth exploration from multiple perspectives of the complexity and uniqueness of a particular project, policy, institution or system in a "real-life" context. It is research based, inclusive of different methods and evidence led (Simons, 2009).

Case studies are useful for many different scenarios due to its flexibility and diversity (Leavy, 2014). This study will be an evaluation case study, meaning it has three essential features: it determines the value of the study, it includes and balances different values and interests, and in the end, the findings are reported to a range of stakeholders in an applicable way.

(22)

A qualitative case study research method requires the data collection method to be conducted with a qualitative approach. Three qualitative methods often used in a case study research for data collection are interviews, observation and document analysis (Leavy, 2014; Simons, 2009). Interviewing will allow for the advantages in qualitative data collection as it will allow for gathering deep and detailed knowledge (Gillham, 2000). In addition, Gillham (2000) explains, it has as the advantages of focusing the interview on a specific issue. Therefore, it was decided to conduct interviews for the collection of data.

Segmentation of Participants

The participants of the study were the grid customers selected to interview. These were segmented into two customer groups, property company and industry.

The first group was property companies, where both commercial and residential properties were included. Amongst the property case companies, there were both companies owned by private actors and by municipalities to receive an understanding of different objectives.

The second group was industry companies which included different types of industries, such as the food industry and manufacturing industry, to obtain an understanding of how barriers and drivers differ depending on industry type.

Other segmentation included experts and aggregators. It was decided to interview representatives from these segments to receive a holistic perspective on the subject.

2.3 Data Collection

Data collection was conducted through interviews and a State of the Art Review. The methods used were collection methods for a qualitative research method. In this section, the process is further explained.

2.3.1 Selection of Literature for State of the Art Review

A literature study was carried out to establish the definition of flexibility and to receive a deeper understanding of the subject. The current development of the studied field was analysed to create an understanding of previously identified drivers, opportunities, barriers, and actions for enabling flexibility.

The starting point of the literature study was to review the existing definitions and choose the most appropriate one for this study. It was decided to use the definition from the Swedish Energy Markets

(23)

Inspectorate since the source was of high relevance to the subject. Identified opportunities, drivers and barriers as well as actions for enabling demand side flexibility were researched and described, which is presented in chapter 4. The literature study also served as a basis when constructing the interview guide.

Sources of literature were found through:

• Unisearch, Linköping University search engine for academic articles, books, journal and doctoral thesis.

• Google Scholar, Google’s search engine for academic articles, journals, doctoral thesis and books

• Books at Linköping University • Consulting with supervisor

In an early phase of the thesis, search words such as flexibility and flexible electricity consumption were used to increase the knowledge of the authors. After studying litterateur new studies were found by examining literature’s references and targeting the search words to more specific areas. Synonym and sub-parts of flexibility were discovered, such as demand side flexibility and explicit flexibility, which were used to expand the search further.

2.3.2 Selection of Case Companies and Respondents

When selecting companies for the case study it was important to ensure a variance to obtain the desired holistic perspective. The selection needed to be within the selected segmentation, but variance was important to ensure different perception, barriers and drivers, were identified. Some parameters that were important to include to ensure variance was the size of the company, location, customers, prior implementations as well as the type of property and industry. Both experts, property companies, industries, aggregators, and technology suppliers were interviewed to receive a comprehensive knowledge of the subject.

To find an appropriate participant to interview, it was important to select a person with enough knowledge of the company’s energy and electricity consumption. This was ensured by asking, over the phone or over email, to speak with an employee which had insight into the company’s electricity consumption. When introducing the thesis to a potential interviewee they were asked if they considered themselves to be the appropriate one in the organisation to interview and if not, if they could forward it to the most suitable employee.

(24)

It was decided that the participants from the case companies should remain anonymous since publishing their name was not seen as relevant to the result. Instead, a description of the company or industry was given as well as the title of the person interviewed for the reader to understand the background of the answers.

Cases Within Property Company Segment

For the property company segment a variance regarding size, ownership and property portfolio was considered. There was thereby a selection of two municipally owned property companies and three private as well as a variance regarding the portfolios of commercial and residential properties. Furthermore, it was desired to include some property companies with previous experience in providing flexibility services as well as companies with no experience to obtain both perspectives. Here, the case companies will be presented.

Property 1: Property 1 is a private property company located in an area of capacity shortage. Property 1 is the owner of around 70 properties, primarily residential, and has around 60 employees. The interview was held at the main office of Property 1 with their Business Controller.

Property 2: Property 2 is a public property company located in an area of capacity shortage. They have more than 300 properties, primarily residential, and have around 350 employees. The interview was held at one of their offices with the Energy Manager of Property 2.

Property 3: Property 3 is a private property company with around 175 commercial properties. The properties are located in several large cities in Sweden, including some with capacity shortage. The company has around 300 employees. The interview with Property 3 was done over a video interview with the Head of Technology Development. Property 3 is currently involved in a pilot project for flexibility trading on a local market.

Property 4: Property 4 is a private property company with properties in ten different cities. They are the owners of around 130 residential and commercial properties, approximately half of each. The company has around 150 employees. The interview with Property 4 was held at their main office with their Environment and Energy Manager. Property 4 are currently involved in a pilot project for aggregating flexibility potential of batteries.

Property 5: Property 5 is a public property company with more than 550 properties, primarily residential, and around 450 employees. The interview was held at their main office with the Head of Technical Installations of Property 5. Property 5 is currently working with pilots to aggregate flexibility potential in batteries and EVs.

Cases Within Industry Segment

(25)

in demand side flexibility.

Industry 1: Industry 1 is a paperboard producing process industry with around 300 employees. The interview was conducted over the phone with the Automation Engineer. Industry 1 has conduct measures for providing flexibility services towards the electric power grid.

Industry 2: Industry 2 is a process industry producing dairy products with around 250 employees. The facility is a part of a large corporation in the Nordic countries. The interview was conducted at their facility with the Maintenance Technician.

Industry 3: Industry 3 is an industry producing skincare products with around 60 employees. The interview was held as a conference call with the Accounting Manager.

Industry 4: Industry 4 is a corporation providing paperboard products from several process industries located in different countries. In Sweden, the corporation has more than 4000 employees in different production sites. The interview was held as a conference call with the Energy Coordinator of Industry 4.

Industry 5: Industry 5 is a manufacturer of vehicles with around 10,000 employees. The interview was held as a conference call with the Development Engineer.

Industry 6: Industry 6 is providing process and packaging solutions and is situated close to an area of capacity shortage. The facility in Sweden is mainly for development and testing and has around 3500 employees. The interview was held as a video call with two Technical Managers within energy and electricity management.

Demand Side Flexibility Experts

Here, the interviewed expert is presented. The expert was selected to validate the result and to obtain a perception of the current situation of demand side flexibility. Therefore, it was decided to select an expert with a holistic and unbiased perspective.

Marielle Lahti, Expert at Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate: A phone interview was held with Marielle Lahti, an expert at the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate. Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate, or Energimarknadsinspektionen (Ei), is a Swedish authority which is commissioned to strive for well-functioning energy markets. Lahti specializes in demand side flexibility both within Ei, in several investigations, and Swedish Smartgrids, a forum to support the expansion of smart grids nationally and internationally. In Swedish Smartgrids, Lahti has worked as a project leader for strategies to increase demand side flexibility.

Aggregators

(26)

desired to obtain the perspective of experienced actors to acquire an understanding of the opportunities and the barriers for realising flexibility potential of different grid customers. Therefore, aggregators with experience of providing different services to the case segments of this study were selected. The aggregators have a variance in core business, offered flexibility services as well as countries of implementation.

Mattias Harrysson, Sales Manager, Entelios: A phone interview was held with Mattias Harrysson, a Sales Manager for Energy and Sustainability Services at Entelios. Entelios is owned by Agder Energy, a Norwegian hydropower company, and their core business is to administrate and trade electricity for their customers. One of their offered services is Flexibility, meaning an aggregation of reduced electricity consumption for demand side flexibility trading with the grid owners. Their customer base consists of large electricity consumers, with a yearly consumption over 10GWh.

Daniel Iggström, Digital Business Developer, Siemens: An interview over a conference call was held with Daniel Iggström, Digital Business Developer of Smart Infrastructure at Siemens. Within Smart Infrastructure Siemens is finding intelligent solutions to connect energy systems, buildings and industries to create a smarter use of resources. This is done through developing solutions ranging from intelligent grid control, smart storage, building automation and control systems. Siemens have previously been active in increasing demand side flexibility solutions in Finland.

Joel Mars Bodell, Customer Project Manager, Power2U Sweden AB: A phone interview was conducted with the Customer Project Manager of Power2U, Joel Mars Bodell. Power2U is a provider of smart, cloud based energy service solutions for optimising the electric power use of properties. Their services can be used to reduce power peaks in the properties and optimise the use of solar energy generation. In addition, Power2U provides aggregation services where the aggregated potential of flexible electricity consumption of several properties is traded in electricity markets.

2.3.3 Interview Process

The selected customers were contacted, by email or over the phone, asking for the opportunity to interview them. The contact details were accessed through the company’s homepage. During the first contact, it was essential to create an interest to increase the possibility of an interview. This was done by emphasising the importance of flexibility and how they could contribute to the study.

Thereafter, a meeting was scheduled with the selected respondent, presented in the previous section. It was preferred that the interview was conducted face-to-face since it gave are more personal contact and was a larger source of knowledge. However, due to certain circumstances, some interviews were conducted through video or over the phone.

(27)

According to Gillham (2000), it is important to know the setting and the people before making contact to establish credibility and trust before starting the interviews. It is also important to modify the questions and interview style to the setting and the people. Therefore, the style of interview differed depending on the interviewee. When performing an interview with an expert, the interviewee is in a position of authority since the interviewee know more about the topic and what questions that are relevant to ask (Gillham, 2000). Also, according to Gillham (2000), they have a good structure of their knowledge and there is therefore a risk that the interview will not be successful if there was a series of questions directed at them. Therefore, the interview should be conducted in an unstructured way, according to Gillham (2000), raising topics important to discuss and letting the expert lead the conversation. Therefore, an unstructured interviewing methodology was used when interviewing the expert.

For the case companies, on the other hand, the interviewing guideline was constructed in a semi-structured way. For semi-structured interviews, (Gillham, 2000) explains, a few questions are prepared beforehand to make sure the interviews were kept in the right direction.

The interview guide was adapted after customer segment but in general, they were divided into three parts: an introductory part where the researchers presented themselves and explained the background to the thesis, a second part with questions about the organisation and previous conducted actions. The last part focused on demand side flexibility and perceived drivers and barriers. Overall, the questions were asked to find out the customer’s:

• Current work with energy measures

• Perception and knowledge of flexibility

• Opportunities for possible flexibility resources • Barriers to flexibility

• Drivers for enabling flexibility

By having a semi-structured interview, the conversation became more open and more adapted to the specific case company. Aspects missed when constructing the interview guide, see Appendix 2: Interview Guide for Case Companies, could thereby be found.

2.4 Data Analysis

(28)

2.4.1 Interview Analysis Process

When an interview had been conducted it needed to be analysed and interpreted. This work was done continuously throughout the collection of data. Trost (2010) distinguish three steps when working with data. The first step is the collection of data which was done in the thesis by conducting interviews. The second step is to analyse them. Each interview was recorded and transcribed to enable deep analysing and reflections. The first step of analysing was to read through it to achieve an initial understanding. Afterwards, the transcripts were read carefully again but this time notes were taken. The third step is to interpret the data through a manually coding process, explained further in the section below.

Coding of Data

According to Corbin and Strauss (2015), there are three types of coding. The first one is the coding of a word for word and line for a line where the text is read and interesting words and lines are highlighted. The second possibility of coding is to look for interesting parts of the text and interesting sentences. The third possibility is to look at the entire interview where the interpreter sees if there is something in the interview that might be interesting to move on with.

For the study, second type of coding was used where important sentences and sections were labelled related to for example activities, processes, opinions, drivers and barriers. Parts of the text were seen as important if it was directly relevant to the research questions, it was repeated several times during the interview, the interviewee stated that it was important or if something similar had been brought up in a previous study. During the coding of the text, it was important to stay unbiased and not modify the data.

2.5 Summary of Method Applied to Answer Research Questions

Table 2.1 presents an overview of the research questions and the method applied for answering them.

Table 2.1: The research questions and applied research method.

RQs Research Question Research Method

RQ1 How can grid customers become

participants in a market platform for demand side flexibility?

State of the Art review as well as analysis and discussion of the results from RQ1a, RQ1b, RQ1c and RQ1d.

RQ1a What are grid customers’ current perception of the concept demand side flexibility?

(29)

RQ1b What are grid customer’s opportunities to increase demand side flexibility?

State of the Art review as well as interviews with case companies, aggregators and an expert.

RQ1c What drivers and barriers do grid customers experience when enabling, implementing and participating in trading of demand side flexibility?

RQ1d How can barriers be diminished and drivers strengthened?

2.6 Ensuring Quality of Research

Validity and reliability are important aspects when evaluating the quality of research and vital especially for a qualitative research (Brink, 1993). It is important to be aware of potential risks that may affect the validity and reliability as well as implement countermeasures to avoid them.

2.6.1 Validity

The Validity of the study is important and relates to the accuracy and truthfulness of the research (Brink, 1993). As discussed by Brink (1993) the researchers can pose a risk to the validity by being biased and influencing the situation. Also, the participant of the case studies may pose a risk of the validity by for example trying to make the situation better or worse than what it is. The participants may also be unwilling to share certain information and withhold it during the interviews. According to Brink (1993), certain measures can be taken to reduce the influence of validity such as compare the results with other evidence and making sure the participants are clear with the purpose of the study. As Brink (1993) emphasised, the evidence from the case studies was compared with multiple sources of evidence to reduce the effect on validity. This was conducted by comparing the findings from the State of the Art with the results from the interviews and remain unbiased during the process. Also, by being aware of the potential risks the effect on validity could be decreased. The methodology of the study was also continuously discussed with the supervisor from Linköping University to ensure the overall validity of the study.

(30)

2.6.2 Reliability

The objective with reliability is to make sure that the procedure of the study can be followed by another researcher with the same result (Yin, 2014). By minimizing bias and errors the reliability of the case study can be ensured. In reality, achieving reliability is often difficult since repeating a study the same way is challenging therefore the same result can not be achieved. According to Yin (2014) the obstacles can be overcome by carefully document the procedures followed and divide them into sub-steps. This has been done by descriptive methodology and detailed explanation of each step.

(31)

3. Theory

This chapter aims to give the theoretical context for the study in order for the reader to develop an understanding of the field analysed. This includes a description of relevant concepts such as the Swedish electric power grid and its actors, changes the grid is facing and an introduction to demand side flexibility.

3.1 The Swedish Electric Power Grid

The Swedish electric power system consists of several operators to make sure that there is a constant balance between production and consumption of electrical power. Four distinct parts of the electricity system can be identified: production, consumption, distribution and trading of electricity. Within these areas, there are several important actors which will be presented further in this chapter.

3.1.1 Actors of the Electricity Market

The section presents the actors of the Swedish Electricity Market. This includes the Transmission System Operator, Distribution System Operators, electricity supplier, Balance Responsible Parties, electricity producer and consumer as well as aggregators.

Svenska Kraftnät (SvK): This actor is the state-owned electricity TSO in Sweden. The authority has several responsibilities including managing, operating and developing the Swedish national grid where the electricity is transported from the electricity producers to the regional grid as well as the international connections (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2015). SvK is responsible for ensuring that the balance is kept between consumption and production nationally and, with the help of other operators, responsible for optimizing the operational costs while maintaining the reliability and stability of the grid (Gürses-Tran et al., 2019). They are also responsible for supervising the electricity trading, ensuring free competition (Svenska Kraftnät, 2020).

Distribution System Operator (DSO): There are around 170 grid owners, DSOs, in Sweden of varying sizes (Swedish SmartGrid, 2020a). The DSO operates the power grid at the regional and local level and has a natural monopoly on the electricity distribution in their geographical area.

The electricity is transported from the national grid to the regional grid where the majority of the regional grids are owned by Ellevio, Vattenfall Electricity distribution and E.ON Energidistribution

(32)

(Ellevio, 2020). From the regional grid the electricity is transported directly to customers with high power output or to the local grid where the electricity is distributed to households and industries.

Electricity Supplier: The actor that often buy their electricity at the day-ahead market, usually the Nord Pool, and sell it to their customers. The trading occurs at a free market where the price is agreed between customers and suppliers (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2015).

Balance Responsible Party (BRP): An electricity supplier is obligated to deliver an equal amount of electricity as its customers consume. To avoid an imbalance of the grid, BRP is responsible for making sure that electricity production meets the consumption (Svenska Kraftnät, 2016). The electricity supplier can itself be the BRP or assign the responsibility to a third party.

If the BRP fails to maintain the balance in their area, SvK has to intervene by buying or selling electricity to restore the balance (Svenska Kraftnät, 2016). The BRP that caused the imbalance then has to pay SvK for the cost of restoration, a so-called balance settlement.

Electricity Producer: The actor that supplies the electric power system with electricity. An electricity producer can be a large producer such as an energy company or a small-scale producer who is, for example, an individual with a small-scale PV power plant.

Electric Power Grid Customer: A grid customer can both be a company or an individual consuming electric power from the electric power grid. The grid customer has to sign a network contract with a DSO and an electricity supply contract with the electricity supplier (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2015). The grid customer can choose electricity supplier but cannot choose DSO. This is because the customer will automatically belong to the DSO operating in the geographical area which they are based in.

Aggregator: This actor is a relatively new participant in the electricity market. What is referred to as aggregator, in this case, is an actor providing an aggregating energy services for grid customers. This can include managing the electricity consumption of grid customers, by for example switching of electrical equipment, towards the electricity grid.

Often small or medium size electricity customers, such as a household or a small company, do not have enough flexibility to meet the lowest bid volume, a requirement to fulfil to participate on a market platform. An aggregator can offer their services to collect their volumes of unutilized power, aggregate the volumes and sell it on the electricity market or to the DSO (Swedish SmartGrid, 2020b). The customers are then given a price deduction, or another form of compensation, in return for allowing the aggregator to adjust their electricity after the needs of the electricity grid (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2017).

(33)

3.1.2 Power Balance

To ensure that the short term balance is kept between production and consumption of power all over Sweden, SvK monitors the frequency on the grid (Svenska Kraftnät, 2017a). According to Svenska Kraftnät (2017a), the frequency is the indicator for balance/imbalance and should always be held at 50 Hz in Sweden. If the consumption is higher than production the frequency will sink and if the production is higher than consumption the frequency will rise.

The balance is kept both automatically and manually by upward or downward regulation; Upward regulation meaning increased production or decreased consumption, and downward regulation meaning increased consumption or decreased production (Svenska Kraftnät, 2017a). The power balance reserves can be divided into primary, secondary and tertiary power regulations (Svenska Kraftnät, 2017b). The primary power regulation is automatic and is today made up primarily of hydropower in Sweden, and is activated within a time frame of seconds to a few minutes. The secondary regulation is automatically used within the same time frame to relieve the primary regulation by restoring the frequency instead of stabilising it. The tertiary regulation, on the other hand, is done manually within a few minutes to around an hour. There is a market for the tertiary regulation, called the mFRR (Manual Frequency Restoration Reserve), which is run by the balancing service of SvK together with the other Nordic TSOs. Here, power is bought and sold per hour to keep the Nordic power system in the normal condition of 49.9 to 50.1 Hz.

3.1.3 Trading of electricity

The trading of electricity is conducted in a market place where actors, electricity producers, large electricity users and electricity suppliers, trade electricity (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016a). According to Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate (2016a), there are different kinds of markets: day-ahead market and intra-day market. The day-ahead spot market is called Nord Pool and it is here where the electricity price for the next 24 hours, so-called spot price, is determined (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016a).

The intra-day market, also called Elba in Nordic countries, is a supplement to the day-ahead market and a tool for ensuring the balance between supply and demand (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016a). The trade at Elba allows participants to manage unexpected changes, such as if the electricity consumption differs from what was expected.

There are four bidding areas in Sweden, from Luleå in the north to Malmö in the south, see figure 3.1, determined by the limitations of the transmission capacity. The limitations of transferring the electricity between the areas are often called bottlenecks and generate imbalances between supply and demand. The areas in the north, SE1 and SE2, have electricity excess while the areas in the south, SE3 and SE4, have electricity deficit (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016a).

(34)

Figure 3.1: The four bidding areas in Sweden.

3.2 A Changing Electricity System

The electric power system is undergoing several changes, including urbanisation, liquidation of traditional power generation units, electrification of the transport sector and industries as well as an increased share of VRE. These changes are resulting in challenges which the electricity grid has to be able to handle to ensure the quality of electricity.

3.2.1 Liquidation of Predictable Electric Power Production

According to Svenska Kraftnät (2019a), there is an ongoing process of liquidating nuclear power plants in Sweden. It is probable, according to Svenska Kraftnät (2019a), that all nuclear power will be liquidated at the end of 2040 to reach the goal of 100 percent renewable electric power generation in Sweden the same year.

(35)

Svenska Kraftnät (2019a) is reporting that indications are pointing towards an increased termination of cogeneration plants in the Swedish electric power system due to deficient profitability. These will be replaced with thermal power plants, exclusively generating heat. In Sweden, the cogeneration plants today are mainly located in SE3 and SE4 where there already is a power shortage during peak hours, see figure 3.1.

These predictable and plannable electric power production resources will primarily be replaced with wind power which will worsen the capability of keeping the power balance in the grid during peak hours from a national perspective. As a result of the liquidation of predictable electric power production, the risk of power shortages will increase.

3.2.2 Increased Share of Variable Renewable Energy

With the increasing share of VRE, the balancing of production and consumption will become challenging. According to NEPP (2013b), the power fluctuations on the grid will increase with more intermittent power generation, leading to hours with high production followed by hours of power shortages. Therefore, there is a need to prepare the electricity system for being able to change quickly and adapt to intermittent electricity production. Since it is difficult to accurately forecast the weather, planning will be challenging and the adjustment period will be short. The resulting challenges will, therefore, be to dimension the system optimally and utilise the existing resources efficiently (NEPP, 2013b).

3.2.3 Capacity Shortage Related to Urbanisation

When referring to electricity shortage it can be both of energy and power. However, in Sweden there is a significant energy surplus which is exported every year while the power balance has been shown to successively deteriorate in the last couple of years (Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b). This will result in power shortage during some hours of the coldest days in the winter.

There is also the difference between power shortage and capacity shortage, according to Svenska Kraftnät (2019b), where the former refers to a situation where there is not enough supplied electricity to meet the demand in a certain area. Capacity shortage refers to the problem of transferring enough power to a certain area even though there is enough available electricity in general. The capacity shortage will arise where a defined geographical area has particularly large consumption, for example, a big city or large electricity consumers such as power-intensive industries or data centres.

Thus, capacity shortage is primarily a problem in high demand areas, such as big cities, where the power capacity in the transmission grid is not high enough to meet the demand (Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b). This is a problem, according to Svenska Kraftnät (2019b), since the power demand of

(36)

society is increasing faster than the grid development and increased power generation. Also, the local power generation from co-generation plants within cities is increasingly shut down due to decreased profitability as mentioned in the previous chapter 3.2.1 Liquidation of Predictable Electric Power Production. According to Svenska Kraftnät (2019b), two prerequisites need to be fulfilled to reduce capacity shortages; enough electric power must be produced and, if it is not produced in the same location as it is consumed, it must be able to be transmitted to the consumers. The local electricity grid has transmission restrictions due to bottlenecks which have previously been solved by expanding the power grid (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b).

3.2.4 Electrification of Transport Sector

The transport sector is undergoing changes where the share of electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing. The term EVs includes electric cars and charging hybrids and refers to vehicles that are charged from the electric grid (Energimyndigheten, 2019). According to Energimyndigheten (2019), there were over 100,000 charging vehicles in Sweden at the end of 2019 and the number is increasing.

The electrification of the transport sector will introduce new challenges to the electricity system and create new demand profiles depending on the charging schedule and amount of electricity used by the EVs. The increased use of electricity will create an overload for when the consumption exceeds the capacity. This will require reinforcements of the grid which can be avoided by introducing new technical solutions and increased digitisation (Song, 2019).

3.3 Flexibility

Flexibility is a concept to stabilise the electric power system by making sure the supply meets the demand. A flexibility service is performed as a power adjustment from the supply or demand side of the grid, in a certain direction with a starting time and a specific duration (Eid et al., 2016). A flexibility resource can vary greatly and can be anything from an electricity generation plant, such as a hydroelectric power plant, to an individual household. Commonly, flexibility can be divided into five different flexibility services, according to Roesch et al. (2019):

• Flexible generation

• Flexibility through the expansion of the power grid • Flexibility through storage

(37)

• Flexible electricity consumption

Roesch et al. (2019) explains that flexible generation refers to the response from production units such as power plants and co-generation plants to answer demands from the power grid. Expansion of the distribution and transmission grid can also provide balancing services in the local grid. According to Roesch et al. (2019), this is due to better spatial connections that can redistribute supply and demand over a bigger geographical area. Storage technologies can provide flexibility services as they can time-shift the delivery of power, handling temporary mismatches between supply and demand. In addition, advanced technologies that can converge energy between sectors such as electricity to thermal or vehicle to grid technologies are possible services for power management. The last service, according to Roesch et al. (2019), refers to the change in electric power consumption to reduce or increase the demanded electricity from the grid.

3.3.1 Supply and Demand Side Flexibility

Flexibility services can also be divided into supply side flexibility and demand side flexibility. Supply side, meaning that the grid customer will produce more than they will consume from the grid and demand side meaning that the grid customer will consume more than they will produce. This is illustrated in figure 3.2 where supply side flexibility can be flexible electric power generation, power grid expansion and sector coupling through energy conversion. Demand side flexibility can be seen as flexible electric power consumption, energy storage and small-scale electric power generation.

(38)

3.3.2 Flexibility vs Energy Efficiency

Demand side flexibility differs from energy efficiency measures, the latter providing tools for reducing peak demand and overall energy use in the business (Cardoso et al., 2020). Energy efficiency measures have traditionally been important within businesses to reduce expenses as well as reducing the carbon emissions and the need for grid reinforcements. However, Cardoso et al. (2020) explains, with increasing decarbonisation of the electricity grid and integration of VRE, energy efficiency may cause imbalances between production and consumption during the day when there is a production peak from solar energy or during times of strong wind. Since demand side flexibility is primarily focused on shifting loads, it is not as clearly linked to reducing carbon emissions as energy efficiency measures. Therefore, there is a necessity to illustrate the need for demand side flexibility and strengthens the connection to environmental benefits as well as suggest combinations of flexibility and energy efficiency for businesses in the future (Cardoso et al., 2020).

3.3.3 Definition of Demand Side Flexibility

There are several definitions of this concept, usually called "efterfrågeflexibilitet" in Swedish, with the English version "demand side flexibility" (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2018). Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate (2016b) defines demand side flexibility as following:

"A voluntary change of demanded electrical power from the electricity grid for shorter or longer periods as a result of some kind of incentive"(Swedish Energy Market

Inspectorate, 2016b)

The definition of demand side flexibility imply that an electricity consumer will make an incentive-based decision to change their usual pattern of demanded electricity from the grid. This incentive can be given in many different ways, usually divided in indirect, implicit incentives and direct, explicit incentives.

3.3.4 Explicit and Implicit Flexibility

In general, two types of flexibility can be distinguished; explicit and implicit flexibility (Smart Energy Demand Coalition, 2016). Implicit, or price-based, flexibility is related to change of behaviour based on price signals. By moving the consumption of electric power from hours with high electricity price to hours with low electricity price the grid customer can influence their total electricity cost. Explicit, or incentive-based, flexibility means that the customer can participate in different energy markets and sell their flexibility. The customer is then compensated for using more or less electricity during a short period. This form of flexibility is often committed and incentive-driven (Smart Energy

(39)

Demand Coalition, 2016). According to Smart Energy Demand Coalition (2016) implicit flexibility programs are more suitable for slow demand side flexibility while fast responses from the demand side are more suitable to be obtained through explicit programs. The explicit programs offer a more reliable, predictable and fast response due to that the program coordinators have more control over the actions of the customers through contracts and scheduling (Mathieu et al., 2013).

3.4 Identified Benefits of Demand Side Flexibility

The electricity grid is currently facing several changes, explained in chapter 3.2 A Changing Electricity System, resulting in issues related to power shortage, capacity shortage and integration of more intermittent power generation. There are several solutions to solve these issues. However, with the high cost and slow progress of grid expansion as well as the high cost of energy storage, flexible electricity consumption is a competitive option (Roesch et al., 2019).

Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate (2016b) has identified challenges that flexibility can help solving; frequency management, power shortage, inefficient use of resources and local grid problems. By increasing the flexibility these challenges may be diminished and according to Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate (2016b) and Lund et al. (2015) it will result in the following benefits:

1. Resource-efficient way of handling capacity shortages (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b; Svenska Kraftnät, 2019b; Lund et al., 2015; Khripko et al., 2017)

2. The balance between supply and demand can be maintained. (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b; Lund et al., 2015).

3. Benefits in Electricity Price (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b; Lund et al., 2015).

3.4.1 Resource-Efficient Way of Handling Capacity Shortages

The local electricity grid is experiencing transmission restrictions due to bottlenecks. Traditionally, these restrictions have been handled by the TSOs and DSOs by expanding the power grid (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b). By using demand side flexibility, where grid customers change their consumption patterns of electric power, the capacity shortage can be reduced and expensive investments in the power grid can be avoided or postponed (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b; Lund et al., 2015; Khripko et al., 2017). Increased flexibility can be a cost-efficient alternative for handling the peak loads since they only occur a few times a year, usually during cold winter days between November and March (Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, 2016b). In addition,

A Review of Drivers and Barriers for Demand Side Flexibility : The perspective of electric grid customers

A Review of

Drivers and Barriers for Demand Side Flexibility

- The perspective of electric grid customers

Abstract

Sammanfattning

Preface

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

List of Definitions

1.

Introduction

1.1

Background

1.2

Purpose

1.3

Delimitations

1.4

Outline of Report

2.

Methodology

2.1

Work Process

2.2

Research Method

2.3

Data Collection

2.4

Data Analysis

2.5

Summary of Method Applied to Answer Research Questions

2.6

Ensuring Quality of Research

3.

Theory

3.1

The Swedish Electric Power Grid

3.2

A Changing Electricity System

3.3

Flexibility

3.4

Identified Benefits of Demand Side Flexibility