PowerMatcher can be of use in various business cases. In most business cases, flexibility is of key value. In an electricity network where the supply is becoming more and more intermittent and less and less flexible, the ability to generate or consume electricity at a moment of choice becomes of high value. Several parties can provide this flexibility (flex providers) and other parties need this flexibility (flex consumers). Business area’s could emerge where flex providers and consumers are linked with eachother.

Business area’s

The following business areas can be identified:

• Flexibility service providers (FSP): The FSP aggregates flexibility from individual households and/or businesses and offers it to flexibility consumers.

• Community service providers (CSP): The CSP aggregates flexibility from a group of households (e.g. a community) and offers it to flexibility consumers.

• Energy service companies (ESCO): ESCO’s use the flexibility of individual businesses in order to reduce the connection capacity.

• Domotics / Intelligent Homes: Use the flexibility available at individual households such that locally generated electricity is used on the spot as much as possible.

Flexibility providers and consumers

The following parties are in need of flexibility:

• Balance response party (BRP)
• Grid operator (TSO and DSO)
• Individual end user

The following parties are potential sources of flexibility:

• Individual households, notably with heat pumps and electric vehicles.
• Groups of households, communities, local sustainability collectives, owners associations
• Commercial electricity users
• Local governments and housing cooperatives
• Industries

Example business cases

Business cases for the PowerMatcher can be found in electricity trading, active distribution management and in energy management in homes and buildings.

• Business Cases in Electricity Trading

With the PowerMatcher technology virtual power plants can be created, clustering numerous distributed generators, responsive loads and electricity storages in a single operational unit. Such a virtual plant is able to provide flexibility services for the balancing markets. In a field test involving industrial & residential generation and demand response the PowerMatcher was used to balance wind energy production. The system achieved an imbalance reduction of 40 to 45%. In the Dutch balancing market, a 100MW wind farm has approx. 1 Mio euros imbalance costs on an annual turn over of approx. 10 Mio euros.

• Business Cases in Active Distribution Management

In distribution system operations, PowerMatcher business cases can be found in network congestion management, network load profile shaping and black-start support, for instance In a field test involving 10 micro-CHP systems at the premises of end-customer’s premises, PowerMatcher showed capable of reducing the peak load at the MV/LV transformer with 30% to 50%.