Flexing the grid
The energy transition is driving a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy and the electrification of heating and mobility. However, the current electricity system is not designed to cope with this shift. New forms of system management and flexibility in electricity consumption are needed to make more efficient use of the electricity system. This calls for a Smart Electricity System (SES), which uses ICT to collect data and enable coordination between parties such as grid operators, system users, and service providers to use and exchange flexibility. There are challenges in encouraging stakeholders to contribute to more efficient system usage, including legal ones. The dissertation Flexing the Grid explores several of these challenges to assess the extent to which the current legal framework facilitates the implementation of flexibility and SES for household consumers. One issue is that privacy legislation can hinder the use of smart meters to gain insights into system performance. Additionally, system operators still rely heavily on voluntary consumer participation, which limits efficient system use. The right of households to access the SES also remains unclear. Moreover, current design standards and energy labels for appliances do not sufficiently consider the flexibility these devices could offer to the system. To address these challenges, a clearer legal framework, better coordination, and active household involvement are needed. This requires joint efforts from both the EU and its member states.