EURELECTRIC welcomes EC recommendations on flexibility take-off

The European Commission’s Task Force Smart Grids – Expert Group 3 has published recommendations for the deployment of flexibility. The recommendations towards the Commission, Member States and national regulatory authorities are the result of a one-year process bringing together the main stakeholders and experts in the field of flexibility and demand-side response, among them EURELECTRIC.

The report addresses the development of market rules, commercial and technical arrangements for demand-side flexibility (DSF), how to measure flexibility, consumer participation in flexibility services, efficient grid operation, and incentives for the development of flexibility.

EURELECTRIC considers that the deployment of DSF is one of the building blocks of future wholesale and retail markets, bringing benefits to a wide array of stakeholders – most importantly consumers. In this context, the report’s recommendations provide key insights into specific actions that the EU, Member States and regulators could take to encourage DSF.

In particular, EURELECTRIC supports market-based deployment of DSF in a way that allows it to compete on a level playing field with other flexibility providers. The roles and responsibilities of different DSF actors must be clearly defined, especially regarding the participation of third party aggregators in organised electricity markets. We also support the development of flexibility services at distribution level, to meet the increasing needs of distribution system operators.

Finally, efficient coordination and communication between market players and network operators (DSOs and TSOs) will be key to enable flexibility while at the same time ensuring continued secure grid operation in Europe.

EURELECTRIC will continue to engage with policymakers, regulators and industry stakeholders to build on the fruitful debates and constructive work carried out over the past year. We are currently assessing how demand response aggregation can contribute to the deployment of DSF in a fair and equitable manner and aim to publish the results of this work in spring.