Barriers to residential demand response in Belgium and the Netherlands

Demand response can be a valuable tool to increase the flexibility of the grid. With an increase in renewable generation and distributed energy resources, it can be used to match demand more closely with supply, so renewable energy can be used when available. Demand response has already been successfully implemented in industry and more and more commercial buildings, but residential assets seem to be lagging behind. Projects in residential demand response remain small-scale and do not tend to leave the research environment. The research done in this thesis identifies the main reason why, in the Belgian and Dutch markets. An extensive literature research introduces the demand response market, stakeholders, and drivers as well as the different types of demand response. Many possible barriers are identified, and subsequently discussed with a range of experts from different stakeholders’ point of view. This led to an overview of the current barriers of residential demand response relevant in the Belgian and Dutch markets. The experts also shared their view on the evolution of the demand response and energy market over the coming years. Barriers depend on the stakeholder and the type of demand response implemented and can be classified as three main types: structural, developer and consumer barriers. Examples of structural barriers are regulatory issues and lack of data. Developer barriers include the financial model and collaboration. Consumer barriers introduce high upfront investment costs, lack of information, low financial incentives and a high psychological impact. The future of residential demand response is linked to the volatility of the electricity prices noticeable for consumers, the roll-out of technologies increasing residential resources and regulatory changes