The Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism (WDRM) has been created to allow energy users to offer Demand Response (DR) into the wholesale electricity market (and to get paid for doing so). Many businesses across Australia are well-suited to offer DR, and they are seizing this new opportunity to significantly improve their bottom line while supporting a cleaner and more competitive future for Australia. Enel X is the market leader in Demand Response, and it offers a comprehensive service through its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform that helps businesses maximise what they can earn from the WDRM.
Support the grid and the uptake of renewables by providing flexible capacity to the wholesale energy market.
Provide additional capacity to the grid by reducing or switching off power use when the grid needs capacity.
You have the ability to opt-in and opt-out of participation at any time to suit your operational needs.
Earn a recurring new revenue stream from WDRM participation with Enel X, regardless of your retail supplier.
The National Electricity Market (NEM) balances the supply of and demand for electricity in real-time. Depending on this balance, the market produces a different ‘spot’ power price every five minutes of every day.
When demand is very high relative to the available supply, the spot price will spike, and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) will typically issue a ‘Lack of Reserves (LOR)’ notice indicating that the power grid is under stress.
The WDRM allows qualifying DR resources to offer their energy capacity into the NEM as a new source of power supply during these critical times. This will help AEMO enhance the reliability of the system, while allowing DR providers to earn the spot power price whenever they are utilised.
For DR resources that offer themselves to the market as a last line of defence for the power grid, they can expect to be utilised primarily during summer evenings for only a few dozen hours each year.
The cost of power in the NEM is highly concentrated in critical hours. Today, more than 20% of the total annual cost of power occurs in the most expensive 40-60 hours each year. The WDRM allows businesses to capture this concentrated value, which will translate into a material reduction in the annual cost of powering their business. And as coal stations retire and renewable power continues to grow, the value of DR could very well continue to increase.
Unlike past mechanisms such as the Reliability and Reserve Trader (RERT), the WDRM is a fixture of the NEM, meaning businesses can count on an ability to participate and earn revenue year after year. And with the model offered by Enel X, this will include guaranteed minimum annual revenue regardless of the actual spot power prices each year.
The DRM allows businesses to offer DR to the market while still buying their power through a traditional fixed price supply contract. This means you can participate in the DRM without taking on any new risk or volatility in the price you pay for power. And the DRM works independently from your retail contract, allowing you to keep earning money from DR regardless of who your retail supplier is each year.
While DR is valuable, your core operations come first. When done properly, your participation in the WDRM can be designed around your operational priorities. Put simply, the market will take what you can give it. At Enel X, we first seek to understand your operations, and then to design a WDRM plan which will maximise your earnings subject to your operational limits.
While valuable, the WDRM is going to be quite complex. AEMO requirements will include unique market registrations, dedicated SCADA connections, real-time market bidding and dispatch procedures, and detailed performance measurement and compliance rules.
We approach the WDRM the same way we approach everything we do – with a mission to make it easy for businesses to access this new energy opportunity. To do so, we offer a turnkey service that manages all aspects of WDRM participation.
Our market-leading and comprehensive service offering includes:
Businesses trust our proven track record as the market leader. We deliver the most DR revenue, while properly prioritising and protecting your core operations, and ensuring full choice for your retail power supply.
We bring our global leading platforms to local markets. We unlock new opportunities to decarbonize, digitalize and electrify your energy use in ways that will help grow your business.
We manage 200 MW of BESS globally today, and plan to have 525 MW of installed capacity by 2023. We are also growing our world-leading electric mobility footprint, evolving from 230,000 charging points to 780,000 in the next two years.
Explore our Demand Response programs
