McAuley Feeds Demand Response Case Study

McAuley Feeds is a third-generation, family-owned and operated agriculture business that has been farming in Balrath, Ireland, since the mid-1950s. It grows cereal and forage crops to produce feed for livestock.

As a high-volume business that operates machinery for five and a half days each week, McAuley uses a significant amount of energy. Its yearly average consumption is between 2.7-3 gigawatt hours, representing approximately 17% of its annual operating costs. The company has several renewable energy generation assets on site, including a Vestas V44 wind turbine and an array of solar panels.

McAuley appreciates the importance of economic and environmental sustainability for the future of its business. It needed an energy flexibility solution that offered:

• An increased revenue stream to offset more of its energy costs
• Greater control and flexibility over its response to requests to reduce consumption

McAuley’s critical machinery cannot run at a reduced capacity. Its mills, conveyors and other processing equipment do not allow for partial shutdowns, so any flexibility here would have to be a consequence of planned downtime. Before its partnership with Enel X, McAuley participated in a load-shedding programme that operated from 5-7pm, but this didn’t prove flexible enough for the business’ operations.

Enel X first worked with McAuley to identify the demand-response programme most suitable for its operational requirements. By understanding McAuley’s business, and where energy flexibility could come from, it determined that the Capacity Market was the best solution.

Capacity Market customers earn revenue from guaranteeing that they can respond to ‘dispatch events’, caused by a lack of supply on the grid. When those events occur, participants are requested to reduce their energy demand to stabilise the network. Emissions are also reduced, by preventing the use of fossil-fuelled power stations that would have otherwise compensated for the demand.

Enel X has now supported McAuley and facilitated its access to the Capacity Market for almost 10 years. Enel X provides McAuley with weekly predictions of the likelihood of upcoming events, allowing the firm to proactively plan its response should they occur.

Over the tenure of its partnership with Enel X, McAuley has benefited substantially from its demand-side response activities, reducing its operational costs, decreasing its emissions, and supporting the stabilisation of the grid. McAuley receives an average revenue of between €10,000 and €12,000 per year – nearly 2% of its annual energy spend.

"Having control of when and how we respond to grid events is crucial to our operation. The ease of taking part is also a significant benefit for us. Enel X manages participation on our behalf, allowing us to focus on farming and production. Taking part in demand response offers us an additional revenue stream, and reduces our overall energy costs. It’s also a way for us to encourage the use of renewable energy, and reduce emissions. It’s low-hanging fruit, and because participation is easy, I’d encourage other organisations to enrol."

— David McAuley, CEO, McAuley Feeds