Market Effects of Industrial Demand Response and Flexibility Potential from Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Demand response (DR) is widely seen as a valuable tool to introduce more flexibility into power markets. For the implementation of DR programs, industrial customers seem to offer the greatest potential, given that they are often large single electricity consumers with a certain degree of flexibility. One industrial sector that has received little attention from the literature so far, but shows a large potential for DR, is the wastewater treatment sector. This study examines industrial DR in general and then presents the opportunities for DR from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in particular. Three main sources of flexibility can be identified: a potential for variable electricity use in aeration, the time-shifting operation of pumps and the exploitation of overcapacity in the system. In order to quantify system and market effects, DR from WWTPs should be examined by means of an integrated energy systems model.