Theory, practice and tools of energy saving
Dynamic pricing is the only real implementation of a balanced market between supplier and user that pushes towards energy saving and consumption optimisation, but there is still a lot to do to move from theory to practice. Gianguido Piani's article from the latest issue of the quarterly Start Magazine
Considerable limitations on generating capacity due to external conditions, market speculation by electricity companies, temperatures much higher than the average which require massive use of air conditioners and limits on retail prices which risk leading to bankruptcy numerous supply companies are the ideal ingredients of an energy crisis.
Italy 2022? No, California 2001. There are numerous points in common between the crises in Italy and in California, but they are addressed in different ways. In the US the main private electricity company that had manipulated the market, Enron, went bankrupt and several of its executives ended up in jail for years or decades, in Europe this risk is laughable. But that's not the main difference between the opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Even before analyzing the problems and identifying possible culprits, California had been evaluating options to solve or mitigate the energy crisis. One of the fastest-implemented, low-cost, and later evolved tools is demand-response . To avoid more or less prolonged blackouts when extreme situations approach, such as few generators in operation or high temperatures or problems on the lines, users are warned in advance via various channels. Twenty years ago the Internet was not as widespread as it is today and in California they used radio announcements, such as for civil defense. Upon request, users disconnect non-essential devices for a few hours, avoid a blackout, receive a fee from the distribution company.
One of the first users to use this approach was Ikea in Silicon Valley. A building the size of an Ikea megastore has very high thermal inertia. Periodic switching on and off of the air conditioning system is not linked to precise instants of time and even if the system is completely switched off, it takes hours before customers notice it (for the circulation of air to avoid excessive concentration of CO2, the other considerations). Ikea began to coordinate the operation of the air conditioning systems based on the momentary availability of energy indicated by the electricity company, with significant savings in bills. Around 2005, with the technologies back then.
LOAD CONTROL MANDATORY SOLUTION
In Europe and Italy too, load control will become an obligatory solution, both due to the high costs of traditional natural gas generation and due to the greater penetration of renewable sources, which by their nature are random and non-programmable. This will increasingly be reflected in dynamic prices, which vary hour by hour according to the availability and costs of electricity generation. Is there overproduction of renewable energy? The price of kWh drops, we read on the Internet, if it is convenient, energy-intensive appliances can be activated manually or automatically, an aubergine parmigiana can be prepared in the oven. Is it dark, cold, and the overall electricity demand is very high? The price goes up, the user is informed and postpones turning on the washing machine.
Some blackouts will be scheduled in advance and thus can be mitigated. For example, if in the future at a certain moment half of the generation will not be available to cover domestic utilities, what is better? Completely cut off electricity for half of households and SMEs or reduce the consumption threshold by half for everyone, at home from 3 kW to 1.5 kW? With the new electronic meters it can be done, the threshold is controlled remotely. In this case, no washing machine or electric car recharge, but at least lighting, computers and microwaves will continue to work.
An electricity price linked to the variable price on the markets is the only one that truly empowers and involves the user. Up to now the so-called competition, mostly artificial, has been based on prices fixed in advance by suppliers and based on access to resources with predictable prices, with financial instruments to cover the risks of unforeseen but still limited variations. All of this is rapidly disappearing – as demonstrated by the latest kWh prices – and domestic users can also become "active" (the term comes from EU Directive 2019/944), managing their consumption thanks to dynamic prices. A market that works as such. When a good is scarce, its price determines the most efficient way to use it. Now, like it or not, energy sources are limited. The dynamic price, which follows the availability of energy, is the only real implementation of a balanced market between supplier and user and which actually pushes towards energy saving and optimization of consumption.
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
So far the theory, let's move on to practice. Two tools are required. First of all, we need data not only on overall consumption over long periods, from bill to bill, but historical series on an hourly basis. With these it is possible to analyze consumption in detail and identify possible interventions. Suppliers are now starting to make this data available to small households and SMEs. In order to create load control solutions, it is also necessary to access the instantaneous measurements of the meter and the hourly price of electricity. With the Internet, the latter is not a problem, if the provider makes the current kWh price accessible with a simple online request. The bottleneck is access to meter data. Second generation 2G electronic meters are installed in the majority of Italian users. By pressing the control key, the various updated parameters are read: power in the various time slots, maximum withdrawal and so on. The counters are almost always installed in positions that are awkward to reach, often in the cellar. For this reason, e-distribuzione has also provided access to the data from one's electrical system at home via a small box, similar to a mobile phone charger, to be plugged into any electrical outlet.
One would think that this interface is accessible via WiFi with all the parameters available on the home network, in addition to a screen to show the current consumption data and the instantaneous price. A simple appliance, with characters similar to those on supermarket labels, within the reach of every housewife in Voghera who can tell with a glance whether to turn on the oven. Plus clean, open data, suitable for automated checks. ARERA and e-distribuzione refer to this device with the technical name of "Chain 2" and e-distribuzione refers to external companies, in neo-Italian, Asset Provider , to request it. Thus confusing hardware and suppliers, which almost certainly bind the instrument, for example, to particular contracts for the supply of electricity or other services, which are often superfluous and hardly cost-free.
The situation is similar to that of modem freedom a few years ago. For years, the various private telephony and Internet providers only accepted modems supplied by them, on their own terms. Sometimes disguised under special offers, sometimes protected by strict legal clauses, such as interruptions of the guarantee, thus hindering the spread of integrated home WiFi devices for a long time. Today the freedom of modem is recognized, WiFi has become a universal concept, it has made the market of services grow. For meter readings we are still far from this goal.
Why is it not possible to access one's own consumption data, as required by EU Directive 2019/944 and by the implementing Legislative Decree 210-2021, without forcibly going through the "providers of assets"? Does it take a lot to put the home interface up for sale without unnecessary complications to all citizens who request it to exercise their right as active customers? When will the end user be able to access their historical and real-time data without filters, SPIDs, mandatory smartphones, market companies, QR codes and other various obstacles? Only then will it become possible to implement energy saving and efficiency solutions based on load control. If e-distribuzione doesn't decide it quickly, Putin will decide it for us.
You can download the digital pdf version for free using this link: https://www.startmag.it/wp-content/uploads/SM_16_web.pdf .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/teoria-pratica-e-strumenti-del-risparmio-energetico/ on Sun, 08 Jan 2023 06:51:22 +0000.