Setting course for demand response in the service sector

The increasing share of renewable energies in electricity generation is within the scope of the energy transition and will lead to a more volatile generation of electricity. A more flexible energy demand could contribute to handling the resulting challenges in electricity grid management. The service sector is one of the target groups for utilizing flexible demand, also called demand response (DR). Supermarkets, hotels, and office buildings can be found in regions throughout Germany. This could be an advantage regarding the compensation of grid instability in any region, compared to more locally focused industrial enterprises. First estimations point out considerable unused DR potentials for the service sector. However, currently, there is less knowledge about flexibility options in the service sector than in industry. Moreover, market barriers, such as a missing adequate regulatory framework offering attractive incentives prevent that the potentials are tapped. Therefore, in this paper, we first analyze survey data from 1.000 enterprises of the service sector in Germany to identify subsectors that have a high share of flexible cross-sectoral technologies in electricity consumption. Data indicates that the subsectors trade, restaurants, and hotels as well as office-like buildings are the most promising subsectors of the service sector regarding demand response potential, since they have a high stock in flexible cooling appliances, air conditioning, and ventilation. In a second step, we conducted stakeholder interviews, to find specific barriers, drivers, and possible starting points in each of the identified subsectors. Still unapt or missing regulatory framework conditions, low profitability, and a lack of knowledge regarding flexibility potentials and marketing mechanisms seem to be the main barriers. However, framework conditions promoting demand response measures are improving, e.g., technical standards and latest regulatory revisions. This indicates that in order to tap the existing demand response potentials in the service sector, the value of flexibility in demand needs to be appreciated, e.g., by facilitating market participation or by creating offers resp. rewarding the enterprises' flexibility of demand. In addition, addressing demand response issues in already existing policy measures, such as energy audits could raise awareness and knowledge.