Enel's subsidiary Enel X has won a demand response contract in the US totaling 157MW in the Forward Capacity Market from the Independent System Operator for New England (ISO-NE).
With this award, Enel also enters the demand response market of US states Connecticut and Vermont. As a result, Enel’s virtual power plant in New England will increase by 50% year-over-year, reaching 157MW for the 2021/2022 delivery period, from the previously secured 101MW for the 2020/2021 period.
Enel X head Francesco Venturini said: “Through this award we are delivering on our growth strategy in the advanced energy solution sector, while also expanding our geographical footprint and strengthening our lead in the US demand response market.
“With this additional capacity we will be able to deliver predictable revenues for our commercial and industrial customers, while also helping ensure the reliability of the New England power grid.”
Under the New England demand response programme and through the award, Enel X will manage the electricity demand of large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers connected to the regional power grid, informing those customers when the system needs them to reduce their power consumption to help increase grid stability.
C&I customers that join Enel X’s demand response network are paid for their flexibility, which provides a valuable resource to help ensure a steady, reliable source of power for all consumers in the region.
Enel X is present in the US through EnerNOC which operates demand response programmes in all major US wholesale energy markets and is the country’s demand response market leader with approximately 3.9GW of dispatchable capacity in North America at the end of 2017.
What is a demand response programme
Demand response programmes are set up to pay large energy consumers, such as manufacturing facilities, data centres, and commercial real estate companies, to adjust their energy consumption by either reducing or increasing their power consumption, with the aim to stabilise the grid.
Demand response provides greater grid flexibility, stability, and more efficient use of power infrastructure, with a view to help maintain electricity prices as low as possible for all consumers. This demand response programme pays users for being on standby ready to respond in the event of a grid emergency, as well as providing incremental payments if and when they are dispatched.