by Shane Henson — August 12, 2013—While demand response (DR) is a relatively mature market in the United States, DR programs are just getting underway in most other regions, including Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa, according to a report released this month by Navigant Research, a market research and consulting team that provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets.
Per the report, Market Data: Demand Response, in the years ahead, countries in these regions promise to develop robust DR markets with solid growth prospects, and the number of DR sites worldwide will reach 21.9 million by 2020, growing from 10.3 million in 2013.
“While the majority of DR sites today are residences located in North America, the technology will expand rapidly to include homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities in many countries,” says Marianne Hedin, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “The adoption of automated demand response (ADR) looks especially promising, particularly in Asia Pacific, which will most likely leapfrog less advanced technologies, moving directly to ADR as the market accelerates.”
Both energy demand and reliance on intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar power are growing in many countries, the report notes. These developments make it necessary for utilities to balance the grid through DR on a continuous basis (frequently second-by-second) to address constant power fluctuations on the grid, the study concludes. In addition, new technologies (e.g., smart meters) and open standards like OpenADR and Smart Energy Profile 2.0 are opening up new DR opportunities.
The report provides regional and global forecasts of DR participation, load curtailment, and DR spending, segmented by region and by program type, through 2020. The data is examined from the perspective of the three major customer segments: residential, commercial, and industrial. The report also details the burgeoning ADR and OpenADR markets, and provides forecasts for total facilities with DR through 2020, says Navigant Research.
Navigant Research’s Demand Response Research Service offers more information on the demand response concept, as well as other reports covering topics related to demand response.
