Potential for domestic dynamic demand-side management in the UK

Dynamic demand-side management of domestic electricity loads is of increasing interest in the context of the growth of renewable energy in general and the expansion of distributed generation and micro-generation in particular. This paper explores its potential with emphasis on the UK. The different services that dynamic or near real-time load adjustment can provide are reviewed and its system value assessed. Some detail is given of a novel approach currently being developed by academic and commercial researchers in the UK, and of the communication requirements for different schemes are discussed. The potential to ease the large-scale integration of wind energy is also discussed.