Assessing the impact of load-shifting restrictions on profitability of load flexibilities

This study investigates the impact of different characteristics of flexibility options on the economic potential of shift-able loads in European day-ahead spot markets. A systematic approach, describing the load-shift potential of flexible demand using typical attributes, such as maximum power, maximum duration, maximum number, and maximum shift time was chosen. The optimal dispatch of load shifting for different European market prices for the periods 2016–2018 was determined for all combinations of these characteristics using mixed-integer linear optimization. The Shapley value was calculated to determine the relative contribution of individual attributes to the achievable economic benefits. Profitability varied significantly among different European electricity markets. A large share of hydroelectric water reservoirs and pumped storage yielded fewer economic benefits for demand response. The maximum power of load shifts had the greatest impact on the profit generated by flexible demand with a relative contribution of approximately 34%. The contributions of the maximum duration and the maximum number of load shifts each amounted to approximately 24% while the maximum shift time had the least impact with around 18%. The evaluation of the impact of demand response on CO 2 emissions suggests that load shifting does not necessarily result in reduced CO 2 emissions. Both marginal and average electricity system emissions for different market areas were used for the quantitative evaluation. They provided significantly different and in some cases, opposite results. Arguments for both emission indicators were made and the impact of each respective choice was discussed.