Demand Response: Save Money and Earn Rewards with Flexible Energy Use

Most households, without knowing it, have likely participated in demand response in the past. Does this sound familiar to you? You get a text message from your electricity provider to lower your energy use because the national energy availability is low. So, moving your sauna shift or scheduling the dishwasher to a later time is a form of demand response. Also, scheduling EV charging to the evening, when the electricity prices are lower, is another form of demand response.

In this blog, we will provide easy-to-understand information related to demand response: what it is, why it matters, and what all this has to do with the Synergi app.

What is demand response?

Demand response is all about “shifting” your energy use to a later time or reducing your consumption at certain times compared to normal.

In Finland, the energy grid company Fingrid explains it like this:

Demand Response means moving electricity use from times when demand and prices are high to cheaper times or temporarily adjusting usage to keep the grid balanced.

Think of the electrical grid as a big system that brings electricity to your home. It’s a network of power lines and stations connecting where electricity is made to where it’s used (f.e your home). This grid needs to be “balanced” all the time, meaning the amount of electricity used has to match what’s being produced to prevent power outages.

Fingrid, the company that operates Finland’s grid, makes sure there’s enough electricity for everyone and that the grid works properly. They monitor how much electricity is needed and adjust as necessary. If they notice there is too much consumption compared to production, Fingrid can use reserves, buy from other countries, or ask people to reduce their usage. This might be communicated through the news or text messages from your electricity provider. Same works the other way around, if there is too much production Fingrid has their ways of making sure the grid stays in balance by purchasing reserves that increase their consumption.

In the future, demand response will become more advanced and automated, which we’ll explore later below.

Why is demand response necessary?

Around the world, governments, influenced by mindful people like you, are working to make electricity cleaner. Instead of using fossil fuels that create harmful carbon emissions, they want to use renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, which are much cleaner.

The challenge with solar and wind energy is that they aren’t always available. Some days, there’s plenty of sun or wind, and other days, there isn’t enough. When there’s not enough, countries might have to use fossil fuels again to keep the lights on. But when there’s plenty of renewable energy and people aren’t using it, it goes to waste.

This is where demand response and being flexible with energy use can help. By participating in demand response, we can support the use of renewable energy, save money on our electricity bills, and even earn rewards. Demand response is a win for everyone, especially for the planet!

What are the types of demand response?

As mentioned in the intro of this blog, you’ve likely been doing demand response all along. Here are some common types of demand response you might have used or heard of:

• Manual demand response events: These happen when your electricity provider sends you a text or email asking you to use less energy on a certain day. This often occurs during very cold weather when more people need heating. The message reminds you to cut back on electricity, especially during peak times like weekday mornings and afternoons.
• Smart energy services: These have become more popular with the rise of internet-connected home devices like electric vehicles, heat pumps, and solar panels. Companies like Synergi offer apps that can control these devices, such as scheduling EV charging when electricity prices are lowest. This automatically shifts your energy use to cheaper times (so you save money!), which also tend to be when national electricity demand is lower.
• Virtual power plants: These are a type of demand response where you and thousands of other users join a virtual power plant that responds to signals from the grid. These power plants need a lot of users with devices to provide enough flexibility for the grid. By joining, you earn rewards for adjusting your electricity use based on instructions from Fingrid or your local grid provider. Companies like Synergi can act as the “aggregator,” bringing together many users through their app and creating this power plant. To participate, you simply use the Synergi app and keep your device, like your electric vehicle, plugged in. Synergi can then pause your charging when there’s less renewable energy and resume it when there’s more.

How to save money or earn rewards with demand response?

You can make money with demand response, especially if you have internet-connected devices like electric vehicles, heat pumps, or solar panels. Apps like Synergi help you save on your electricity bill by using energy during cheaper times of the day.

To earn extra rewards, you can join a virtual power plant through an “aggregator” (we’ll explain this below) with a compatible device. You’ll earn rewards by participating in demand response events.

Where will the rewards come from?

The rewards come from national grid providers like Fingrid, who want to encourage responsible electricity use and prevent energy waste. However, you can only earn the rewards by joining an official virtual power plant through an aggregator. The aggregator then compensates users for helping provide the needed flexibility to the grid.

What’s Synergi’s role in all this?

We started Synergi to make electricity use smarter and more flexible. Our app is already helping thousands of households across Europe save on their electricity bills by connecting their home energy devices and letting our algorithms do the work.

We don’t just want to help you save money—we also want to reward you for being even more flexible with your energy use.

We’re working with local grid operators to make Synergi an aggregator. An aggregator meets certain technical requirements and gathers enough users with compatible devices to provide flexibility to the grid when needed. Initially, this will work with electric vehicles, and we hope to expand to heat pumps, solar panels, and batteries in the future.

Soon, you’ll not only save on your bills but also earn rewards for using electricity flexibly with Synergi!