Electricity system flexibility to become top priority in Franco-German cooperation
Clean Energy Wire
France and Germany will strengthen bilateral cooperation to unlock the potential of flexibility in the electricity system, government representatives agreed on the margins of the French-German Council of Ministers’ meeting. "For both France and Germany, flexibility is a key driver for a competitive electricity market and for our energy transition," France’s delegate for industry and energy, Roland Lescure, and German economy ministry state secretary Sven Giegold said. They added that the topic should be one of the top priorities for the next years. "Regardless of the national energy mix, it is important to make progress on unlocking the flexibility potential."
France and Germany aim to identify and overcome the various barriers and challenges to leverage flexibility's full potential. These include the need for digitalisation and technological development, as well as assuring cybersecurity across value chains and tackling delayed infrastructure expansion. The agreed upon action plan includes measures such as jointly studying the potential of flexibility to reduce prices for industry and consumers; removing barriers to demand side flexibility, including different pricing tariffs; and exploring options to increase flexibility on the production side, including storage solutions.
As Europe phases out fossil fuels, the share of decentralised and fluctuating renewable power generation will rise, and industry, heating and mobility will increasingly rely on electricity. This means that the electricity system of the future presents great opportunities but also challenges for the industry. Flexibility in the electricity system will be essential to achieve the energy transition, and will play a key role in ensuring security of supply as well as in optimising the electricity system's operation. Concepts such as dynamic electricity pricing models, which for example reward the charging of e-cars when renewable supply is plentiful and wholesale electricity prices are low, are one way of leveraging flexibility to lower consumer costs and maintain grid stability.
