Semantic alignment in monitoring and verification of energy savings achieved by demand response flexibility programs

Smart grids and systems envision systematic integration of flexibility achieved through demand response programs at end-users’ premises. Particularly interesting is the flexibility achieved from heterogenous sources such as residential consumers. Aggregators are expected to collect the flexibility from the residential consumers under contractual conditions and offer the aggregated flexibility by providing ancillary services to balance responsible parties. Additionally, aggregators of flexibility are expected to deliver flexibility programs rules (notification prior to a flexibility event, eligibility, rewards, penalties) respectively aligned with operating conditions, perform planning and forecasting of demand response flexibility and determine effectiveness of flexibility programs. The flexibility programs could also result in permanent energy savings which must be properly assessed. Monitoring and verification for demand response are imperative to determine demand reduction quantities in the context of settlement and impact estimation.Communication and information technologies incorporated into flexibility programs should allow realtime telemetry and event driven information of realized active demand response by remote control over specific customer equipment (flexibility assets). Load reductions achieved through the flexibility programs are not capable of being directly metered or observed. However, communication and information technologies should be capable of registering such event and such information should be properly identified. This paper analyses the capability for monitoring and verification of demand response of commonly adopted communication protocols (i.e OpenADR Open Automated Demand Response) and addresses the needs for proper semantic alignments. Such communication standards should have the ability for direct load control program accomplishment. For the demand response value chain to be fully functional, the paper also discusses the requirements for semantic interoperability among the above-mentioned entities.