Model-based assessment of demand-response measures - a comprehensive literature review

In the coming decades, highly fluctuating renewable energy sources (RES) might dominate world-wide electricity systems and thus require appropriate integration in these systems. One way of meeting this challenge is to adjust the momentary electricity demand to the electricity supply via demand response (DR) measures. During recent years, a massive body of model-based assessments has been used to address various aspects of this option. However, the extent to which the existing models are able to provide holistic and satisfying answers is debatable. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the state-of-the-art research, identify gaps and provide recommendations for future model developments. For this purpose, we analyse 117 publications which develop DR models. We cluster these publications according to their content and provide a systematically structured review. The literature review primarily reveals that the majority of models assess the extent to which single aspects, such as DR pricing schemes or load adjustment of individual end-uses, affect the overall electricity system in terms of peak load reduction and RES integration. The model-based assessments, however, are often restricted to two major pricing schemes (real-time pricing and time-of-use pricing) and end-uses from the residential sector. In addition, from a technical point of view, the temporal resolution rarely exceeds one hour and the scope of the studies hardly extends beyond the borders of individual countries, ignoring system interactions through transnational interconnections. The results of the review suggest that the first step to improve DR models would be to overcome the shortcomings identified. However, in order to holistically assess the potential contribution of DR to the integration of RES, a new model concept is required. Such a model needs to simulate the load adjustment of individual end-uses, considering their techno-economic constraints, under varying DR schemes, and extrapolate the cumulative impacts on the electricity system