The International Energy Association (IEA) uses two acronyms DSM and DSB which can be defined as follows:
- Demand-side management (DSM) is the control of electrical consumption for cost and ecological reasons.
- Demand-side bidding (DSB) is a market place that creates a financial incentive for EDM.
This web site uses the phrase energy demand management (EDM) to mean the real time control of electrical load and generation plant to stabilise an electrical grid. EDM is therefor a subset of DSM. DSB is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of EDM.
The International Energy Association (IEA) has a web site specifically devoted to DSM (http://dsm.iea.org). This site has a ‘key publications’ section from which you can download a number of interesting documents. The one I found most interesting is ‘A Practical Guide to Demand-Side Bidding’. You must register to download this document so I cannot publish a URL. This document is explosive in its content and its impact for Ireland because it states that demand side bidding is important on any grid but its importance is amplified in the context of a small network with high renewable energy availability.
The document gives a seven step implementation plan to establish a demand-side bidding (DSB) programme within a country. These seven steps will drive my business model development over the next year.
- Identify the needs of the buyer (i.e.TSO/EirGrid)
- Target providers (understand electricity consumer processes)
- Adapt Product (match ‘needs’ ofbuyer to ‘process’ of provider)
- Define technologies (technical solution to control monitoring and communications)
- Make Business Case (Define costs and benefits)
- Refine selection of product (Adjust business case to find best match)
- Implement (Establish bid mechanism and negotiate contracts)