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Flexibility in power sector could slash consumer bills by €71 billion, study finds
(EurActiv, 29 Sep 2022) A first-of-its-kind study on demand-side flexibility – the ability for households to change their energy consumption patterns based on external signals – shows that EU consumers could save more than €71 billion on their electricity bills every year if the technology were implemented to its full potential.
The study, performed by Norwegian risk-management consultancy DNV and published on Wednesday (28 September), is the first to quantify the benefits of demand-side flexibility for European consumers and the economy.
It comes amid surging electricity prices in the EU, which have been pushed up almost tenfold by the war in Ukraine and Russia’s dwindling gas deliveries to Europe.
“With the current geopolitical events causing skyrocketing energy prices and supply risk disruptions, the need to empower end-users” has never been more urgent, the report says.
Demand-side flexibility covers a wide range of technologies – from electric vehicles that recharge at night when electricity is cheapest to digitally-connected appliances in buildings that can be controlled remotely.
Some of them rely on smart meters allowing consumers to control their heating from a distance or programme appliances to switch off when they are not needed. Others rely on artificial intelligence to run manufacturing plants automatically when renewable energy is cheap and abundant.
EurActiv, 29 Sep 2022: Flexibility in power sector could slash consumer bills by €71 billion, study finds
