HeatReserves: Demand Response for Ancillary Services

Major promises of smart grids are to boost energy efficiency and to match supply and demand. Important in this regard is electricity storage. However we need new business models, which feature solutions that are feasible from a technology and economic perspective and which provide value to customers. The project focuses on electricity storage using thermal loads and appropriate demand response schemes.

HeatReserves is a joint four-year research project funded by nano-tera.ch in which partners from the ETH Zürich, Swissgrid, EMPA and the University of St.Gallen investigate solutions for electrical energy storage.

The team at the University of St.Gallen is leading WP5: Consumer involvement, management and policy

In WP5 we will experimentally test the mechanisms that help consumers to adapt their daily routines in energy usage such that the demand response scheme developed in Work Packages 2 and 3 can be implemented. For that we broadly review and test different psychological theories which propose a wide range of insights in how to change customer behaviour and consumer decision making regarding participation in demand response programs. We will investigate which psychological interventions - e.g. the influence of induced hypocrisy under different construal mindsets - are most effective for engaging consumers in demand response programs. Based on our findings we develop implications for demand response contract design, incentive schemes, business model design and energy policy.