Evaluation of Industrial Energy Flexibility Potential: A Scoping Review

It is vital to conduct the evaluation of industrial
energy flexibility potential to provide knowledge to relevant
market players about the energy potential with economic gain
through unlocking flexibility. This paper applies a scoping
review methodology and presents the findings for uncovering
industrial energy flexibility. The scoping review was conducted
in the last quarter of 2019, and 855 publications were found
through related databases. Through a systematic quantitative
and qualitative review, 26 essential publications fulfill the
criteria. The result indicates that the field of evaluating the
potential of industrial energy flexibility is matured with an
increasing research interest. Meanwhile, the results reveal a
tendency to focus on evaluating the potentials in a single process
within the industrial facility. Furthermore, the result indicates
that optimization is the main evaluation method. Based on the
scoping review analysis and results, it was found that there is a
gap between the evaluation of energy flexibility and the impact
on the production flow. Hence, there is a need to focus on
solutions that promote a holistic view of the production flow.
Through holistic solutions, it is possible to access to which extent
introducing energy flexibility measures may propagate through
the production system. This can be achieved through
simulation-based solutions that also promote solution
validation.