Frequently Asked Questions

Demand Side Reponse
Financial and Operational Benefits
Role of Aggregators and Market Participation
Technical and Implementation Aspects
Clean Energy Contribution
Regulatory Compliance and Liabilities

Demand Side Response programmes work by financially incentivising participants to free up grid capacity at times when electricity demand exceeds available supply

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Enel X shields its customers from any penalties associated with under-performance. While failure to meet your commitment may result in lower revenue from the program, you will never be required to make out

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Demand response events are triggered by imbalances between forecasted supply and actual demand on the electricity grid, making them rare and only used in states of emergency.

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Earnings depend on several factors including your availability within the program, the MWs you can make flexible and current market pricing.

DR CALCULATOR

Demand Response (DR) enables large energy users to reduce or shift their electricity consumption when requested by the grid operator, EirGrid. By adjusting load during periods of high demand or system stress, businesses support grid stability and earn financial incentives.

 

 

Typical participants include manufacturers, food and beverage producers, data centres, pharmaceutical companies, cold storage facilities, aggregates and quarrying, hospitals, logistics hubs, and large office campuses. Any organisation with flexible or interruptible loads can qualify.

Businesses agree to temporarily reduce electricity use or switch to on-site generation when EirGrid signals a demand response event associated with programmes such as DS3 System Services or the Capacity Market.

Suitable equipment includes HVAC systems, refrigeration units, compressed air systems, water pumps, combined heat and power (CHP), battery energy storage systems (BESS), industrial chillers, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), electric furnaces, and backup generators. Smart controls and automated energy management systems ensure precise, reliable curtailment.

Participants earn additional revenue through capacity and performance payments, reduce electricity costs, demonstrate sustainability leadership, and contribute to Ireland’s renewable integration and grid reliability.

Earnings depend on load capacity, response speed, and event frequency, but participants often generate significant recurring income streams from availability and activation payments.

Your DSR participation is planned around your business needs. To minimise disruption, your Enel X Team helps you to identify non-critical loads that can be curtailed without affecting operations. Most participants have more flexible capacity than they realise. Importantly, the customer always remains in control and can choose not to participate when called on if necessary.

If you have sufficient flexible electricity capacity, then the answer is almost always a resounding “Yes”. Your Enel X Team will assess your consumption data and provide you with an accurate revenue projection that will provide you with a transparent evaluation of the rewardes available to your business.

Aggregators combine multiple business sites into one portfolio, enabling companies of varying sizes to access EirGrid’s DR programmes. They handle dispatch coordination, metering, and market settlement on behalf of participants.

Enel X will survey your onsite consumption, metering and controls. If upgrades are needed for you to participate, they can be financed from the revenue that you will earn from participating in Demand Response programmes. No capital outlay is required on the part of the customer. Load flexibility of at least several hundred kilowatts is typically required.

Yes. Many 24/7 operations such as manufacturing plants and data centres participate using partial load curtailment or on-site generation to maintain production while still providing valuable demand flexibility.

Your Enel X team will handle most of the heavy lifting, including integration with existing systems, testing, validation, employee training, and ongoing support.

Demand Response isn’t just for energy experts. In fact, most of our customers work with us so that we can provide the expertise that they need without distracting them from their core business. Following an initial consultation, we will be able to tell you if your business is a suitable candidate and how much it could earn.

By balancing renewable generation and reducing peak demand, C&I demand response reduces reliance on fossil-fuel peaking plants, helping Ireland progress toward its 2030 renewable energy targets.

Demand Response programmes are developed by the electricity system operator as an essential means of protecting grid stability as we transition to renewable energy. They set the rules, we ensure those rules are followed, insulating you from potential liabilities.