Policy makers in Europe need to prioritise and accelerate flexibility market reforms and quantify future flexibility needs, a new report from the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) has concluded.
The Energy Transition Readiness Index 2022 stated the “vast increases” in flexibility resources needed to enable 2030 decarbonisation targets should be defined and should drive market and policy planning and reforms, with “clear and coordinated” accountability for forecasting and planning.
It also advised governments to implement policies to enable wider participation in flexibility markets and that these must be accelerated if the energy transition is not to be put at risk.
“These reforms must create fair and predictable markets that give investment confidence to a wide range of potential new providers,” the report stated.
Grid stabilisation and flexibility services are becoming increasingly critical to support the further deployment of renewable power.
REA’s report includes some specific recommendations that could help to “level-up” to the best practices.
This transition to low carbon flexibility resources and growth has meant that new providers of flexibility services are emerging, including distributed generation, energy storage, demand response, and interconnection.
Meanwhile, these new providers can face challenges to investment and deployment because of barriers in accessing flexibility markets, which can be technical, such as equipment certifications or metering limitations, or are often grid connection constraints, or they may be commercial barriers, like high trading costs or restrictive market rules.
REA’s report is sponsored by power management company Eaton and law firm Eversheds Sutherland.