The Crucial Role of Demand Response
A critical week for energy management in Ireland saw Demand Response called upon from Monday through to Thursday to stabilise the electricity system and prevent a major grid crisis. Extremely low renewable generation (no solar after sunset and very low wind generation), increased demand due to low temperatures, maximum import on both interconnectors and storm damage to a power plant saw a significant strain placed on the electricity system. The situation was at its worst on Tuesday (10th December) at 17:15 when demand for electricity peaked at 7.078 GW, which came alarmingly close—just 70 MW shy—of the all-time Maximum System Demand. Without the contributions of demand response, the situation could have escalated into a serious grid crisis.
Wind generation, a key component of Ireland’s renewable energy strategy, faced challenges. On particular during Wednesday 11th wind generation during the peak demand period was a modest 0.167 GW, the low overall contribution of wind highlighted the ongoing challenge of balancing renewable energy reliance with fluctuating weather patterns. For scale, the All-Time Maximum Output reported by EirGrid for wind generation is 4.653 GW, demonstrating how low wind production was during this period.
Compounding the situation during the week were the outages from large generators, peaking at 2.9GW, further tightened an already stretched system.
As a result, EirGrid issued multiple System Margin Warning highlighting the precarious balance between supply and demand. The longest of these warnings was on Thursday 12th, lasting 5 and a half hours, underscoring the extended periods of vulnerability.
Fortunately, we had Demand Response available and ready to stabilise the grid. The crucial role of Demand Response was highlighted on Wednesday 11th as 172 MW of Demand Side Units (DSUs) were dispatched. Without this response, the grid would have faced unparalleled strain, possibly leading to outages or other emergency measures. Most notably, VIOTAS contributed an additional 276 MWh across the week.
Whilst scenarios where the grid has low renewables during high demand are rare, weeks such as this show they can occur. Having Demand Response in place to support the rollout of renewables by stepping up during these exceptional occasions gives the system the fall back it needs to have the confidence to further deploy renewables and achieve our renewable targets.
As the energy landscape evolves, embracing Demand Response will be essential to meeting future challenges head-on to ensure a reliable, sustainable energy future for Ireland.
