Determining the Technical Potential of Demand Response on the Åland Islands

Abstract: With increasing intermittency from renewable energy production, such as solar and wind power, the need for increased flexibility is quickly arising. The Åland Islands have an ambitious energy transition agenda with the goal of having a 100 % renewable energy system. Since there is no possibility of hydropower acting as regulatory power on Åland, reaching the goal is a challenging task. Increasing flexibility can be achieved by either implementing energy storage in the system or by matching the demand with the production.   The purpose of this study was to estimate and evaluate the technical potential of demand response (DR) on Åland, both in 2019 and for a scenario in 2030 when domestic production of wind and solar have increased. Six areas of interest were identified; electric heating, refrigeration processes, lighting, ventilation and air conditioning, electric vehicles and industries. Electricity import from Sweden to Åland was examined since high import coincides with either low domestic renewable production or high consumption. Import is therefore a good indicator for when flexibility is most required.  The results show that the technical potential of DR on Åland can lower the maximum electricity import from Sweden by 18 % in 2019. 4.3 % of the total import can be moved to times when there is less stress on the grid. Electric heating is the biggest contributor, and can by itself lower the import with three fourths of the total reduction. The domestic renewable production for 2019 is too low for DR to have an effect on the self-sufficiency. In 2030, the self-sufficiency and utilization of domestic renewable production could be increased with 4.2-9.9 % and 5.4-12 % respectively when using DR, depending on if vehicle-to-grid is implemented on a large scale or not. The cost of implementing DR is still uncertain, and varies between different resources. Nonetheless, DR in electric heating is presumably a less expensive alternative in comparison to batteries, while providing a similar service.