The industrial peak load reduction will grow from 26.8 GW in 2013 to reach 62 GW by 2019, according to Pike Research. The North American region, mainly the United States, represents the lion’s share of industrial peak reduction throughout the forecast period.
Demand Response for Industrial Markets examines peak load curtailment by two major customer segments: small/medium and large/very large.
The report also analyses how much these industrial demand response (DR) customers receive in payments by a utility, grid operator or aggregator when they reduce their load at peak times. Pike Research forecasts about $1.8 billion will be paid to these customers globally in 2013, increasing to about $4.3 billion in 2019.
Since the inception of DR in the mid-1970s, electricity consumers in the industrial sector have represented an important target market in the United States. But, as DR is increasingly adopted in other parts of the world, industrial facilities will also become a critical customer segment in other countries.
While the commercial sector presents excellent prospects for DR because of the sheer number of facilities in the world, the industrial sector offers unique opportunities because it is able to contribute unusually large amounts of load reduction — even from just one plant. As a result, large industrial or manufacturing sites have been considered the low-hanging fruit by DR providers.
A January report from Pike Research said commercial building owners are becoming more interested in DR programs. The number of commercial facilities participating in DR programs worldwide will rise from about 564,000 in 2012 to more than 1.4 million sites by 2018, the report forecasts.
