Demand response (DR) programs in China have focused primarily on alleviating summer peak load constraints on the power grid. A new study released by NRDC found that commercial buildings in Shanghai can also provide significant load reduction during the winter. Commercial buildings consume about 30% of electricity in Shanghai. The new study, Follow-up Analysis of DR Potential of Commercial Buildings for Summer and Winter in Shanghai, released on November 17, 2016, is the second collaboration between NRDC and the Environmental Change Institute at University of Oxford. The report is built on a previous assessment* of demand response potential in Shanghai and examines two specific commercial subsectors: finance, real estate, business and services; and retail, hospitality and catering. The study finds that DR programs for these two subsectors could potentially deliver up to 345 MW of load reduction in the summer and 189 MW in the winter in 2030. China’s newly released 13th FYP for Power Sector Development attaches great importance to demand-side management. The release of this DR report is thus very timely in helping to frame the design of future demand response programs. 

* This report is a follow-up analysis of the report, Assessment of Demand Response Market Potential and Benefits in Shanghai, released in July, 2015.