The concept of demand response, which aims to achieve stability on the electricity grid by ensuring that demand does not exceed supply of electric power, is far more developed in North America than the rest of the world, with almost 95 percent of such programs located in that region, according to a study by Navigant Research.
The Demand Response Tracker 2Q13 currently includes 1,342 programs from around the world. Almost 95 percent of these programs are offered in North America. On a worldwide basis, programs identified as addressing capacity and economic market objectives represent a total of 732 and 585 programs, respectively. These two markets represent the majority of the overall market in terms of the number of programs, while the other two markets covered by the report - energy-trading and ancillary services - are very small with a combined total of only 25 programs, accounting for less than 1 percent of the total market.
Demand response is not a new concept in the United States, where various demand response programs have been offered to all kinds of electric customers for decades, the report says. However, only in the last 10 years have there been major developments, as utilities and grid operators have adopted new technologies and practices to move demand resources to more advanced types of programs, according to the tracker. As a result, a large number of demand response programs have proliferated over the years among the more than 3,400 US energy providers.
Outside of the United States, there are only a few dozen demand programs in total, offered in just a few countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. However, access to demand response resources is expanding as a growing number of utilities and grid operators adopt demand management strategies in many areas.
Anyone doing research about demand response markets now can access the Demand Response Directory, a free library, currently containing over 100 documents. The library is organized in sections including: white papers and articles, research and market reports, regulatory information, training, and presentations. Interested parties need only register to get an online library card for access to all the content, as well as the ability to download documents.
