(672b) Unlocking Grid Flexibility and CO? Mitigation through Scalable Engineering Solutions for Industrial Demand Response

As renewable energy sources such as wind and solar continue to displace fossil fuel-based power generation, grid operators face a growing challenge: how to maintain stability in an energy system increasingly characterized by variability and uncertainty. This issue is especially critical in the energy and power sector, which remains the largest contributor to global CO₂ emissions. Industrial Demand Response (IDR) offers a scalable, engineering-driven approach to mitigate emissions, stabilize the grid, and maximize renewable energy utilization by reshaping when and how energy is consumed in industrial settings.

This work presents a comprehensive review and categorization of IDR strategies into five key technology groups: energy storage, scheduled energy usage, operational flexibility, on-site generation, and intelligent operations. These technologies are evaluated across multiple dimensions, including implementation costs, energy savings, payback periods, and their ability to shift or reduce peak demand. Particular emphasis is placed on comparing solutions based on the trade-offs between financial return and operational disruption, highlighting where low-cost, high-impact interventions are feasible.

Findings show that while energy storage and on-site generation often involve longer payback periods and higher upfront investment, they offer steady support to grid decarbonization with minimal interference in core operations. Conversely, strategies like load scheduling, process flexibility, and intelligent controls can deliver rapid cost savings and substantial emissions reduction but may require greater adaptation of facility processes. Some IDR implementations demonstrate 70–80% peak demand reduction—translating directly into lower CO₂ emissions from fossil-fueled peaker plants.

Furthermore, the analysis identifies combinations of technologies that yield synergistic benefits, such as pairing intelligent operations with scheduled energy usage or integrating on-site generation with energy storage. These hybrid approaches maximize both financial and environmental returns, making IDR a powerful component of integrated decarbonization strategies.

Given that industrial consumers account for approximately 27% of U.S. electricity demand, greater adoption of IDR could play a pivotal role in advancing net-zero goals. This presentation positions IDR not just as a demand-side flexibility tool, but as a forward-looking, research-backed solution that integrates industrial engineering, energy systems planning, and CO₂ mitigation strategies for the power sector.