Demand Side Management

DSM is a way for your business to unlock value by being flexible in how you use your energy.

The way energy is sourced, generated and supplied is evolving. Businesses are recognising the need for a more modern way to buy and use energy – one that takes a flexible approach to energy management, using technology to monitor and manage usage in real time, and leverage the opportunities that this new energy world brings. 

Ultimately, this now enables our customers to take control of their own supply and improve performance through our Demand Side Management (DSM) services. 

With the increasing level of variable generation such as wind, the grid requires an increasing level of response from stable generators and now also customers, through demand side management tools. 

Background to our DSM service

EirGrid is responsible for maintaining the balance between electricity supply and electricity demand. Put more simply, the grid’s job is to ensure that Ireland is generating as much power as its consumers (commercial and domestic) are using and at a frequency level  suitable for customer use. 

For this to happen, they need to maintain the grid frequency at around 50Hz managing variations around this level that are caused by sudden changes in supply or demand.

Now, given our energy system’s increasing reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, whose outputs are cleaner but less predictable than traditional sources like gas and coal.  Maintaining the grid frequency at 50Hz is becoming more difficult, which consequently increases the risk of supply interruptions.

DSM now provides a solution towards this problem, while simultaneously enhancing your businesses energy strategy, helping you to optimise your energy usage and unlocking hidden revenues.

DSM in a nutshell

In essence, DSM is a response on the demand side to any given electricity event.

 Through the use of DSM technology available from Bord Gáis Energy, we will help your business to find the flexible energy in order to participate in DSM schemes without making any changes to the way you run your business.

Want to hear more? Contact Us at DSU@bordgais.ie

How it works

Think of DSM in the same context as the phrase ‘supply and demand’. The ‘demand side’ is where the energy is consumed and used. The ‘supply side’ is where the electricity is generated and how it is delivered to the site.

At times of peak electricity demand, or reduced levels of production from renewable sources, an energy intensive factory may be incentivised financially by Eirgrid to reduce its overall consumption during this peak, thus helping with grid stability. Alternatively, the reduction may be in response to a price peak. 

DSM illustration

Determine the best route to value for your organisation

Our dedicated DSM team will work with you to identify the best solution for your business. Using patented technology, we will connect your assets to the grid, enabling you to monetise flexibility.

DSM Illustration

Action flexibility requests, fully managed by our technology

When a request is received from the grid, your energy usage is adjusted to help balance demand and supply. We can manage your inclusion, ensuring your operational efficiency isn’t affected.

DSM Illustration

Straight forward settlement and automatic payment

At the conclusion of the request event, settlement is automatically completed within our energy management platform, summarising incentives you are entitled to receive for your assistance to the grid.

Unlock your energy flexibility

Bord Gáis Energy's DSM capabilities help you to define paths to unlocking value in your energy’s flexibility. Whether you are looking to optimise existing assets or processes, refurbish or install new generation assets or take advantage of energy storage solutions, we can help your organisation maximise your profitability.

What benefits will your business receive?

Our energy management platform is the heart of our DSM service and it will monitor your energy consumption in real time, linking it to its second-by-second monitoring of the grid requirements.

This will enable you to transform the way your business manages energy and use this to power better business performance. Our DSM platform will allow you to access revenue and cost saving opportunities. 

Through real time monitoring of your consumption, you will get back a host of benefits, including:

Access ongoing support provided by our dedicated Operations team, and receive monthly payments for DSM activities.

Maximize curtailment planning and execution of value by identifying more flexibility to make available under the DSM with real-time visualization of your energy status.

Improve site and asset efficiency by curtailing usage and operations with minimal disruption to your day-to-day operations.

 


Benefits

When you give back to the grid at peak times with Demand Side Management, you get back a host of benefits in return, like:

  • Reduced energy bills
  • A regular income stream
  • Development of a sustainable grid
  • Management of risk through real-time energy monitoring
  • Insights into your operational activity and efficiency

Is DSM right for your business?

DSM is perfect for any business looking to take control of their energy management and add value to their business. It’s a better way to contribute to Ireland’s greener, more sustainable energy future. It suits businesses that can be flexible in their energy consumption, with industries from education and manufacturing to healthcare and datacentres already benefiting from its commercial and operational advantages.

Commercial advantages come from being responsive to the grid’s needs and providing services when required. Operational advantages come from additional resilience and management of existing energy assets.

Industry sectors already benefiting from DSM include manufacturing, healthcare, data centres, cold storage, industrial processing plants and water treatment.

Bord Gáis Energy’s DSM allows you to continue to operate normally, with no change to the way you run your business and we will help you develop strategies around energy efficiency, sustainability and renewable generation.

Why choose Bord Gáis Energy for your DSM?

  • Award-winning DSM software, FlexPond™, is a market leader
  • Industry expertise for over 35 years
  • Provides full end-to-end management of your sites flexibility
  • Will always strive to offer the best return for your business

Want to hear more?

If you are interested in Demand Side Management for your business, you can contact us, and one of our team will contact you within 2 working days.

Please include;

  • Business Name
  • Contact Name
  • Business Address
  • Phone Number
  • Email address

Other information that would be useful, and will help us to assist you;

  • Let us know, if you are currently supplied by Bord Gáis for Energy.
  • GPRN & MPRN
Contact Us at DSU@bordgais.ie 

Why choose Bord Gáis Energy for your DSM?

Through our partnership with Centrica Business Solutions, we are able to offer innovative energy management solutions to help Irish businesses deliver improvements in operational performance, create opportunities for growth and reduce energy spend.

Terms and conditions apply.

Customer Stories: TEPCO Ventures

Centrica’s distributed energy and power business, Centrica Business Solutions, has joined forces with the venturing arm of Japan’s largest power company, TEPCO, to deliver industrial demand response capacity for the Japanese grid.

Learn More


Testimonials

“It is a great honour for TEPCO Ventures to work with Centrica, which has a proven track record in Europe. We look forward to contributing to the realisation of a low carbon society.”

- Shinji Akatsuka, President of TEPCO Ventures