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DOE OSTI · 1871540

The Demand-Side Resource Opportunity for Deep Grid Decarbonization

O'Shaughnessy, Eric·Shah, Monisha·Parra, David·Ardani, Kristen
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Abstract

Technological innovations are creating a larger role for demand-side resources in electric grids. The rise of demand-side resources is occurring alongside the efforts to decarbonize grids. The confluence of these two trends has motivated research on the role of demand-side resources in grid decarbonization. Here, we synthesize the demand-side resource literature to develop a coherent and realistic vision for that role. We find that demand-side resources can supplement supply-side approaches to decarbonize grids more quickly and cost effectively. The role of demand-side resources is secondary to that of supply-side resources, and a critical analysis of tradeoffs is required whenever demand-side solutions substitute for supply-side solutions. Nonetheless, our review suggests that demand-side solutions can play a meaningful role, providing around 10%-30% of the resources required for deep decarbonization in domains such as energy, peak capacity, and deployed solar capacity. However, demand-side resources remain underutilized due to several solvable barriers. The urgency imposed by climate change requires that these barriers be addressed to fully realize the demand-side resource opportunity.

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decarbonizationdemand-side resourcesdistributed solutionsENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTIONgrid services

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O'Shaughnessy, Eric, Shah, Monisha, Parra, David, Ardani, Kristen. 2022-05-18. The Demand-Side Resource Opportunity for Deep Grid Decarbonization. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.04.010

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