Having worldwide presence has allowed us to learn and be inspired by the good practices of countries such as the United States, which is committed to energy management programs to create a more sustainable electricity system and continue moving towards a circular economy.
Indeed, there are two periods of the year (summer and winter) in which the country's energy consumption rises considerably, mainly as a result of the increase in the use of household appliances to regulate the temperature. To cover these high consumption peaks and restore the balance between production and demand, programs were created through which companies that have high-energy consumption can receive extra income for the energy they stop consuming by suspending the operation of some of their teams during certain times of the day.
In Colombia we do not have that seasonality, but our energy generation is 80% from water and we suffer from extreme drought seasons that put us at risk of a shortage situation.
Reducing energy consumption does pay off
To help strengthen the security scheme and thus guarantee the supply of energy, we created the Voluntary Disconnectable Demand (DDV) program, through which companies and businesses can receive extra income, either by reducing their energy consumption or by delivering the availability of the energy that their backup plants can generate.
What is our role in all this dynamics? We act as “brokers” because the companies participating in the DDV program transfer their representation to Enel X, and we are in charge of establishing contact and negotiating with the great energy generating companies in the country.
Together we move towards a circular economy
Of course, the country's power generators have a responsibility to ensure the continuity of the electrical system. But like any industry they are also affected by climatic variations and are not exempt from extreme situations such as having to suspend one of their plants for a month due to maintenance in the middle of a dry season.
That is precisely where the DDV program enters into action and the participation of Colombian companies becomes very valuable, which must declare the amount of energy they can deliver to support the generators in case the drought worsens and production falls short.
We have the energy to change the current paradigms on energy management
At Grupo Enel we have positioned ourselves as the No.1 company in demand response programs such as DDV in the world. With more than 15 thousand accounts, over 6 gigawatts of power have been managed, generating for our clients 1 billion dollars in revenue. This know-how, coupled with the country's commitment to increasingly strengthen the security scheme to protect the electrical system, as well as the novel business model introduced by this program, is what has made the Voluntary Disconnectable Demand to be so well received in Colombia.
