This document highlights the key messages for all relavent stakeholders in the power system on the topic of flexibility harvesting.

This casebook reflects one way that ISGAN gather experts and stakeholders globally to
increase the awareness of a microgrid technology in the field of smart grid. In this stage, the
casebook features five (5) cases conducted from four (4) different countries including Austria,
Canada, Germany and Korea, primarily from a business model and economics standpoint.

For more detailed infoirmation, please download the full report attached.

Disclaimer

This report was prepared by the Secretariat of the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN). ISGAN is organized as the Implementing Agreement for a Co-operative Programme on Smart Grids and operates under the framework of Technology Collaboration Programmes created by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of any of ISGAN’s participants, any of their sponsoring governments or organizations, the IEA Secretariat, or any of its member countries. No warranty is ex-pressed or implied, no legal liability or responsibility assumed for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, and no representation made that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring.

As zero operational-cost variable Renewable Energy Sources are foreseen to dominate the future energy mix, the abundance of green electricity will allow the replacement of fossil fuels in sectors such as heating, cooling, industrial processes, and transport. The intermittency of such energy resources implies significant systemic requirements for flexible solutions; thus, developments of the energy sector in general, and the power system in particular, instigate significant innovation activities in the fields of power system flexibility. Concurrently, complexities and interdependencies of system components and multitude of actors increase the risks of service failures and the complexity of production and grid planning, raising the demand for stronger and more agile resilience means and countermeasures. In this white paper we discuss the item “How can flexibility support resilience?”, considering the increased societal needs of a secure electricity supply. A report summarising experiences from large number of initiatives in a collaborative effort between of ISGAN WG 6 and ETIP SNET WG1.

Overview

This paper draws on the work carried out in the UK by the Energy Data Taskforce and how its recommendations pertain to and align with flexibility service provisions and market developments in the UK. Insights from relevant energy
stakeholders (networks, industry/innovation and academia) have also been incorporated.

Overview

There are many developments around flexibility within the energy system, particularly around electricity network reinforcement avoidance and trading platforms. However, there are also significant gaps in this area that could hinder the participation of innovators in the flexibility markets and, at the same time, limit the procurement process for network companies. This insight paper attempts to capture the views and insights from experts within the UK and draw out the key takeaways.

To adapt to the various changes, the interaction between stakeholders within the electricity supply chain is becoming increasingly more important. These interactions, despite their various challenges, provide many opportunities for increased efficiency of the operation and planning of modern networks in the future. To utilize flexibility to its full potential, coordination between various stakeholders within the energy supply chain is required. The increased need for stakeholder interaction relies on the advanced collaboration between respective parties which needs to be facilitated through technology advancements, data exchange mechanisms, regulatory considerations, and economic analysis.

To evaluate the perspectives on the flexibility and stakeholder interaction, a survey was launched, and its findings are presented in this report. The results of this survey provide an overview of flexibility and stakeholder interaction based on the various perceptions from a wide range of respondents from different geographic locations and sectors. The survey highlights the current status of the related topics and allows for the opportunity to identify concepts, such as challenges and opportunities, which require increased attention by all stakeholders in modern power systems of the future. This work provides a foundation for future work which will be conducted in the next phase within Working Group 6 and Working Group 9.

Summary

Many developments are taking place around flexibility within energy system(s), particularly around electricity network reinforcement avoidance and trading platforms. However, the scoping study hypothesis was that there are also significant gaps in research. As such, the study conducted a literature review to confirm areas that are being considered and concurrently surveyed ISGAN member countries to gather additional thoughts and concerns.

Conclusions were that there are areas that still need to be addressed, namely:

1. Integration of trading with dispatch
2. Understanding of multiple actors’, requirements (including where those requirements are conflicting) for flexibility and the commercial implications
3. A need to identify the characteristics that different flexibility options provides and how to access them
4. Interoperable markets to support the development and usage of flexible products and services at scale
5. Consumer focused flexibility
6. Avoiding stability/security of supply issues through loss of diversity

This report summarises the findings of the literature study and the survey, and explains the thought leadership, to date, in the areas described as gaps above.