The increasing use of nonprogrammable renewable energy sources in electricity generation at the expense of fossil fuels is a critical element in the planning and operation of the electric system. In fact, the reduced use of plants that are typically also used to perform the services of regulating the power fed into the grid reduces ability of the electricity system operator to perform the balancing functions necessary to ensure the security and quality of the electricity supply. Therefore, the electricity system needs new resources that can be used for the necessary balancing actions.

The research project is part of this scope, with the objective of identifying and evaluating the potential of electrical technologies that can be used to perform flexibility services without compromising the quality of the primary service rendered to the user.

The work described in this report, inherent to the first year of research, aims to evaluate the flexibility potential of electric heat pumps present in Italy, defined as the ability to deviate from a given operating profile for a given period, using Demand Response solutions.
A methodology has been developed to evaluate the technical potential for flexibility of electric heat pumps in Italy, assuming the use of houses as a thermal flywheel by varying their temperature by ± 1 °C from the standard condition.

The methodology starts with a reconstruction of the current installed stock of heat pumps, considers the conditions of the building stock, and makes assessments frpm 2021 and 2030, taking into account the targets given in the Fit for 55 scenario.
Heat pumps are an important contributor to the generation of peak electricity demand, and their flexibility potential is high and particularly evident in summer, with peaks in the order of 11 GW. Currently, there are 4÷5 times less flexibility potentials in winter than in summer, but in the future this gap is likely to narrow as heat pumps become more prevalent as the main system in homes.

In addition to this, the activity investigated different technological solutions that can be used to exploit the flexibility of heat pumps. A survey of remote control/monitoring equipment found on commercially available machines was also carried out.