Explicit Demand Response for small end-users and independent aggregators

Authors: SAVIUC Iolanda; LOPEZ Chema; PUSKAS Andras; ROLLERT Katarzyna; BERTOLDI Paolo

Accommodating an increased share of electricity generated from renewable resources on the one hand, and more active consumers on the other hand, puts pressure on the electric grids in the EU and requires the system to become more flexible. Demand-side flexibility can be cheaper than investments in the transmission or distribution networks, and including it in the system increases the reliability and resilience of the grid. In the European Union, the EU Directive 2019/944 formalizes the role of Demand Response in the electric system, and gives the opportunity for a new entity, the Independent Aggregator, to pool together the resources of multiple end-users and participate with them in the markets. This report examined the progress of explicit Demand Response for small end-users across 26 EU Member States, and the status of Independent Aggregators as of the end of 2021. Through a survey, expert interviews, and desk research, it found that the engagement of small end-users in explicit Demand Response has increased in most of the Member States since the previous report. Even though the first step towards making explicit Demand Response available to end-users is through their supplier, which is the case in 22 EU Member States, independent aggregation is recognized by the national legislation in 19 cases, of which in 7 countries independent aggregators of small end-users also exist and operate.