Industrial demand side flexibility: the case of the metallurgy sector in Spain

This paper analyzes the current situation of the final electricity demand in Spain, with emphasis on large consumers, and estimates the metallurgy flexibility potential, whose load curtailment capacity could be incorporated in the adjustment services markets to improve the physical operation of the electricity grid. To estimate the metallurgy load curtailment capacity, we use public information from a study carried out in France with the participation of important industrial agents, and actual data from Spain about the annual energy balance, and the sectoral evolution of electricity demand by large consumers, for the period from January 2010 to December 2021. The results show that the final electricity demand by large consumers represents 44.43% of the total final electricity demand in Spain, and metallurgy has the largest weight with an average annual demand of 21 632 GWh, and an estimated average load curtailment capacity of 1.66 GW, 1.61 GW and 1.39 GW for 30 minutes, 2 hours and 8 hours of duration respectively. The incorporation of demand response in electricity markets allows meeting the need for flexibility of the electricity grid, and for metallurgy represents a diversification of its sources of income, which could become an important business opportunity.