Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Load-shifting potential at SMEs manufacturing sites: A methodology and case study Agnes Pechmann ⁎ , Fadi Shrouf, Max Chonin, Nanke Steenhusen University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Constantiaplatz 4, 26723 Emden, Germany ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Load-shifting potential Methodology Renewable energy Self-energy supply SMEs ABSTRACT Load balancing is an important aspect of today's power grids and will increase even further with the energy systems being changed towards a system based on renewable energy. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may provide potential to engage in balancing activities of local energy systems. Therefore, the question arises of whether the load-shifting potential in manufacturing SMEs is high enough to be of use for balancing purposes. This paper proposes a methodology for determining the load-shifting potential of small- and medium- sized manufacturing companies based on technical, organizational, and economic criteria. The methodology was tested and refined in a medium-sized manufacturing company specializing in metal processing in Germany. The amount of daily shiftable energy was determined in the case company based on quantitative data. Energy consumption data of three additional companies were used to validate the methodology and to define the load- shifting potential of each company. Technical load-shifting potential varies among the investigated SMEs. Potentials of up to 848 kWh per day were identified in one case, while in other cases, potentials were close to 35 kWh. The type of factory (i.e., type of machines, production strategies) and flexibility of production schedule were identified as the main factors causing such variance. 1. Introduction In line with the German policy towards increasing the utilization of renewable energy sources, factories are attempting to increase the self- supply rate of energy from renewable sources. However, there is a significant mismatch between the generation of fluctuating renewable power based on wind and sun and the demand of electricity during particular days and hours by factory consumers. One way to reduce this problem and achieve a balance between demand and supply at manufacturing companies is through energy demand-side management (DSM). DSM includes actions that lead to a change in the pattern or overall amount of electricity consumption, such as load shedding and load shifting [1]. These actions are important tools to keep future energy systems balanced and to lower the need for peak power generation capacity [2]. The higher the proportion of renewable energies in the energy system, the higher the need for load balancing. The existing balancing capacities that traditionally keep the power grids stable will not be sufficient [3]. In energy-intensive companies, load shedding—a method in DSM— is a known and widely applied method for keeping the consumed power below a specified threshold to avoid penalties from the energy supplier [4]. Several studies have investigated how to identify this potential for load balancing, such as those of [2,5]. Such studies focus predominantly on high-volume consumers as [4] or private households, as in [6]. However, little attention has been given to load balancing in SMEs, particularly methods to assess the load-shifting potential in the manufacturing sector. In the future, with the upcoming paradigm shift in the European power grids, the need for load balancing will increase [7]. The question is whether it is beneficial to integrate SMEs into the grid management architecture [8,9]. To answer this question, the potential for load management of SMEs must be known. To accomplish this, this paper proposes a methodology that evaluates load-shifting potential in small- and medium-sized manu- facturing companies. The proposed methodology was used to deter- mine the load-shifting potential for four manufacturing SMEs. The study was accomplished by first testing whether the available meth- odologies in the literature were valid for determining load shifting at SMEs. This was carried out by applying them in small- and medium- sized manufacturing company specialising in metal processing. Next, the new methodology for determining load-shifting potential at SMEs was derived, and the amount of load-shifting potential in the case company was determined. Furthermore, empiric data from three additional companies were used to validate the derived methodology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.081 Received 7 June 2016; Accepted 27 April 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: agnes.pechmann@hs-emden-leer.de (A. Pechmann). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 78 (2017) 431–438 1364-0321/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK