Acceptance of Demand Response and Aggregators as a Solution to Optimize the Relation between Energy Producers and Consumers in order to Increase the Amount of Renewable Energy in the Grid

Demand response plays a very important role in balancing the intermittent production of an increasing share of renewable energy sources on the energy market. This article analyses the importance of demand response and the role of aggregators for the new development of the electricity market, where the renewables will play a more important role. The main objective of this research is to determine the acceptance level of demand response and its implementation on the energy consumer side. This acceptance should include a professional actor, the aggregator which is assuming the role of optimizing the relation between energy producers and consumers, and to monitor the implementation and use of demand response. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with experts in energy from Hungary, Romania and Serbia, on workshops with experts and a wider online survey with end customers for electricity. The results indicate that there is a willingness potential to implement demand response programs with aggregators as intermediaries between energy providers and end consumers of electrical energy.