Domestic heat pumps as a source of primary frequency control reserve

Demand response applications have been extensively studied to provide the capacity needed for grid support. However, research projects have typically focused on peak shaving or similar applications with longer latency requirements and duration. This paper introduces a method to enable heat pumps to provide primary frequency regulation services in the Nordic regulatory framework, without producing major disturbances to the primary use of the heat pumps— heating and cooling.With the developed method, the Internet-connected heat pump capacity can be acquired with fully digital solutions, without the need to have a retrofit installation on site. A proof of concept pilot was conducted to verify the functionality of the method in practice. An economic analysis revealed that the business side of the case is positive, as there are practically no costs for enabling the feature in existing or newly installed heat pumps.