Delivering Demand Response Services to the Power Grid via Smart Building Load Flexibility

Power systems worldwide face stability challenges as renewable energy integration transforms electricity networks. Renewable energy sources’ fundamentally different operation, intermittency, and physics versus traditional synchronous generators primarily drive these challenges. Ancillary services, traditionally delivered by synchronous generators as a by-product of electricity production, help keep power system voltage and frequency within bounds. However, renewable energy sources can complicate their provision. Demand response is a power balancing method that encourages customers to adjust their energy usage in response to price signals. Buildings are particularly attractive participants owing to their significant energy consumption and high flexibility in energy control. Digitalisation and advances in communications technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning enhance buildings’ potential for demand response provision. This paper explores demand response service provision via smart building load flexibility. We show how building energy flexibility can be characterised by power adjustment direction, capacity, availability, predictability, and response time. Key flexibility sources include shiftable loads like electric vehicles, non-shiftable loads such as lighting, and controllable loads like heating and ventilation. Electric vehicles—particularly those with vehicle-to-grid technology—and heating, ventilation, and cooling systems are the most attractive building loads for demand response owing to their flexibility, response time, and duration. We also analyse ancillary service frameworks in Australia, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Australia’s well-established market supports demand response projects like vehicle to-grid initiatives. Hong Kong and Mainland China are in earlier development stages, with opportunities for modernisation and expanded market frameworks. Promising technologies for enhancing grid support include smart sensors, loads and inverters, as well as artificial intelligence. They can help optimise building energy management, facilitate real-time control, and provide predictive capabilities from historical data. Solar façades may also help buildings participate more in grid service provision, while advanced building insulation materials can help improve energy efficiency. The paper concludes by examining the regulatory and policy landscapes across Australia, Hong Kong, and Mainland China and posing open industry and research questions. In Australia, reform has sought to drive greater flexibility, reform trader services, and provide fit-for-purpose consumer protections. Meanwhile, Mainland China is implementing more demand-side management measures, guidelines, and policies to enhance energy efficiency and grid stability through demand response uptake. Hong Kong has only implemented a few demand-side management measures—it has yet to fully develop direct regulations or policies addressing building load flexibility engagement in grid support ancillary services. Effective regulations, policies, and market mechanisms will be critical for unlocking building load flexibility. Overall, advancements in electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, smart energy conversion, and digitalisation provide substantial opportunities for leveraging smart building load flexibility for demand response services to power grids.<p></p>