Enel X achieves a 36% market share of demand response in Irish capacity market
Enel X, the Enel Group’s advanced energy services business line, has been reconfirmed as Ireland’s demand response leader following the award of 154 MW of capacity in the latest auction held by EirGrid Group, Ireland’s Transmission System Operator (TSO), between October 1st, 2019 and September 30th, 2020.
The company will manage 36% of demand response in the island’s capacity market over the period.
The 2019-2020 delivery period will be the second for Ireland’s capacity market, which integrates the electricity market of Ireland with the rest of Europe under a new wholesale market arrangement, the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM). This new market design can create more opportunities for dynamic transactions and trading, with the aim to facilitate the integration of more renewables in the system, and ultimately to drive more efficient wholesale electricity pricing across the region.
Demand response programmes are set up to pay large commercial and industrial (C&I) energy customers, such as manufacturing facilities, data centres, and commercial real estate companies, to adjust their energy demand by either reducing or increasing their power consumption, with the aim to stabilise the grid. The Irish demand response programme pays users year round for being on standby, ready to respond in the event of a grid emergency, as well as providing incremental payments if and when they reduce their energy demand from the grid.
Enel X, through its local subsidiary, has been providing demand response services in Ireland since 2011, and became the capacity market leader in this segment for the inaugural 2018-2019 delivery period.
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Enel X is Enel’s global business line dedicated to developing innovative products and digital solutions in sectors in which energy is showing the greatest potential for transformation: cities, homes, industries and electric mobility. Enel X holds the leading position in demand response programmes globally, with over 6 GW of demand response capacity currently managed and assigned in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global power, gas and renewables markets. It is one of Europe’s largest utilities and figures among Europe’s leading power companies in terms of installed capacity and reported EBITDA. The Group is present in over 30 countries worldwide, producing energy with more than 89 GW of managed capacity. Enel distributes electricity and gas through a network of over 2.2 million kilometres, and with around 73 million business and household end users globally, the Group has the largest customer base among its European peers. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power already manages around 43 GW of wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Tony Whittle, Head of Enel X Ireland said: “With this award, we will keep on contributing to Ireland’s security and sustainability of energy supply in our role as the leading provider of demand response resources. Industrial and commercial businesses are playing an increasingly key role in the active transformation of the island’s electricity system. Our history in - and deep knowledge of - the local electricity market positions us well to facilitate participation of businesses in demand response, which in turn provides them opportunities to create new value.”
