International Comparison of Demand Response in EU Countries

This research proposal investigates Demand Response programs and policies across sixteen European Union member states. The proposal begins by defining Demand Response and its importance in balancing electricity consumption, reducing costs, and promoting renewable energy. The research aims to compare the implementation of these programs across EU countries, with specific research questions focusing on regulatory structures, incentive-based Demand Response, and market developments. The literature review highlights previous studies on load shedding mechanisms and the impact of Demand Response in countries like Sweden and the United Kingdom. The methodology section outlines a qualitative research approach, utilizing desk research, interviews with industry stakeholders, and analysis of various reports. A budget plan and timescale are also included, estimating the research to be completed within ninety days with a budget of $8,000. The proposal concludes with a list of relevant references in the Harvard referencing style.

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Research Proposal
By (Name)
Course
Instructor’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
The City and State
The Date

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Keywords: Demand response, European Union member countries, policies, programmes and
electricity consumption
Background
Demand Response refers to the program or policy is established to incentivize various
challenges in the consumption of electricity patterns by the end-users in the response to the
changes in electricity prices over a given period of time. In this case, demand response is in the
position to raise the substantiality and adequacy system so as to reduce the desire of investing in
"peaking generation." This can be done by diverting consumption during the time of high
demand. Demand Response can act as a way of reducing the costs of balancing the resources for
renewable generation. Also, it lowers down the need for gas-fired and coal spinning reserves.
Further, Demand Response benefits the consumers by rewarding them directly for their
flexibility of demand. Similarly, Demand Response encourages competition in the market by
giving a chance to the providers of 3rd part services to take part in the supply of services. Within
the European policy of framework of 2030, Demand Response is considered as a major tool that
can be adapted to attain at least twenty-seven percent of renewable energy by 2030. Within the
European countries, policymakers are finding all the possible means of attaining these goals.
Therefore, for the purposes of this proposal, we shall look at various measures adopted by the
sixteen member states of European Union to ensure effective implementation of Demand
Response programmes and policies (Brophy et al 2009).
Research objectives and Question
Research objective

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The major objective of this proposal paper is to make an international comparison of
Demand Response policies and programmes for Europe Union countries. In this case, the
objective is intended at illustrating the various ways on how Demand Response policies and
programmes are implemented in the sixteen European Union such as; Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, and many others. Therefore, the structure of this paper is aimed at describing
the relations of different Demand Response policies adopted by the 15 European Union member
states to engage consumers in lowering costs, supporting better energy resources and reduce
climate changes (AEEG 2014).
Research question
 What is the international comparison of Demand Response programmes and policies in
different EU countries?
 What is the regulatory structure of the sixteen European countries?
 What is the development of incentive-based or explicit Demand Response in the
balancing markets of European Union Countries?
Literature
For over the past twenty years, the 16 member states in the European Union have used
various mechanisms of load shedding with their big industrial customers with an intention of
reducing demand in the peak periods. The programmes used by these countries don't depend on
the correct price signals which act as the foundation for pricing options. Also, they are not costly
to use and their implementation depends on discrete timing. For example, between 2003 and
2008, Sweden had implemented a temporary law concerning “peak power reserves." The law
was focusing on studies about Demand Response which indicated that different industries in

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Sweden would be in the position to face power reduction between thirty minutes to three hours
every day (Sweco 2014). The implementation of the law by the government of Swede was aimed
at securing enough peaking and reserve capacity. In the United Kingdom, the levels of liberation
and consumption of energy markets are important tools for estimating the state of Demand
Response. In the UK, the consumption of household energy increased by nineteen percent
between 1991 and 2001 which implicated that the use of appliances increased by nine percent.
As a result of various Demand Response programmes in the UK, large commercial and industrial
sectors are in the position to agree with the suppliers about interruptible and "Time of Use"
contracts (APX Holding BV 2014).
Research strategy
Methodology
The research methods of the study are connected to the research approaches that help in
explaining the research questions. For the purpose of this paper, the research methods that will
be used is qualitative made up of limited variable descriptions. The main reason for using this
approach is that it may be important in obtaining critical information about the research
question.Also, the information will be collected by using market results and regulations of desk
research, and interviews with various organizations such as “National Regulatory Authorities
(NRAs)", aggregators, suppliers, DSOs, consulting firms, providers, research organizations,
universities, and many others. Various reports will also be reviewed about Demand Response so
as to make a good conclusion about Demand Response programmes or policies in Europen
Union member countries (Belgian Government 2015).
Budget plan and Timescale

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For the purpose of this research, the financial resources will be estimated in the form of
the expenses that will be incurred in, collecting data, travel expenses, stationery and collecting
secondary data. Therefore, the estimated overall budget for this research is $8,000. The research
is estimated to be done within ninety days from the starting day (Statnett 2012).

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References
AEEG. 2014: "Resolution 301/2014/R/eel" 20 June 2014, art. 4, available at
http://www.autorita.energia.it/allegati/docs/14/301-14.pdf
APX Holding BV. 2014: “Annual Report 2013", p 11, available at
http://www.apxgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/ APX-Group-Annual-Report-20131.pdf
Belgian Government. 2015: “Réserve stratégique en électricité”, available at
http://economie.fgov.be/fr/consommateurs/Energie/Securite_des_approvisionnements_en_energi
e/reserve_strategique_electricite/#.VOGvpfnF8dn
Brophy, A., Tooraj J., and M. Pollitt. 2009, Smart Metering and Electricity Demand:
Technology, Economics, and International Experience, EPRG Working Paper
EPRG0903 .Cambridge: Working Paper in Economics
Statnett. 2012: "Technical Product Specification For delivery of FRR-A to Statnett", Appendix 1
FRR-A, version January 2012, available at http://www.statnett.no/PageFiles/2581/LFC
%20Technical%20Product%20Specification.pdf
Sweco. 2014: “Capacity markets in Europe", available at
http://www.econtrol.at/portal/page/portal/medienbibliothek/presse/dokumente/pdfs/
Studie_Capacity%20Markets%20in%20Europe_final%20February%202014.pdf