Industrial flexibility as demand-side response for electrical grid stability

Electricity markets are currently experiencing a period of rapid change. The intermittent nature of renewable energy is disrupting the conventional methods used in operational planning of the electrical grid, causing a shift from a day-ahead forecast policy to a real-time pricing of delivered electric power. A path towards a more renewable, robust and intelligent energy system is inevitable but poses many challenges to researchers and industry. In the field of process industry, strategies based on demand-side response (DSR) are receiving attention and could represent a partial solution for this challenge. Coordination between production scheduling and procurement of electric power is of high importance and can contribute to reducing cost and emissions associated with production. A methodology to quantify such benefits is presented in this work with a case study, which reveals the potential benefits of flexible operation. The method follows a rolling scheduling approach that provides optimization of the short-term schedule. This work introduces the concept of representing flexible processes as ‘equivalent batteries’ which store electricity from low-cost periods as intermediate products and consume the embedded energy during high-cost periods. Cost related to providing flexibility combined with the profits from optimized process scheduling contribute toward monetization of flexibility as ancillary services for the grid. Balancing between these services and the cost of implementing DSR solution provides a means for calculating a pricing strategy for grid flexibility.