Comparison of Opportunities and Challenges in Demand Response Pilots in Finland and Portugal

Demand response (DR) is needed to maintain the power balance when the proportion of controllable generation decreases. This paper analyses the opportunities to ulitise DR resources in Finland and Portugal. Both countries would benefit from more active demand side participation in system balancing as the amount of inflexible generation is increasing. However, Finland is already shifting from piloting to commercial operation whereas in Portugal, demonstration projects associated with DR aim at paving the way and fomenting discussions around its deregulation in the country.