Flexibility products and their future opportunities for the Austrian electricity market

Abstract

The integration and development of green energy sources for electricity production is essential for further decarbonization, which became even more vital in the light of the 2020 pandemic. In the current climate, the most important characteristics of an energy system is its reliability, security and quality of power. To provide a stable load in an electricity distribution grid with a high share of renewables, TSOs and DSOs require flexibility opportunities to adapt to the varying levels of demand. Over the last couple of years, the phenomenon of flexibility in the energy sector has received great attention. A number of European countries have begun to piloting marketplaces for trading flexibility and have been testing their concepts of flexibility projects, among them the UK’s “Piclo Flex”, Germany with “Wind-NODE”, the Netherlands with “GOPACS” and Austria with “Flex Hub”. The objective of this research was to identify and study these energy flexibility projects and determine which of these approaches would be most beneficial for the Austrian market. This encompassed identifying more than 20 different parameters for the analysis of these projects. We could identify the criteria for successful execution, such as: clear participation and bidding rules; user-friendly interfaces; clear and achievable and non-discriminatory technical requirements; clear definition of congestion points; identification of selection and activation periods and the activation mode; well established communication scheme, transparent trading etc. When comparing the design of the project and products we could establish the main trends, that included third party management of the platform, product standardization and pre-qualification, TSO-DSO cooperation establishment etc. We also analyzed the existing legal framework regulating the Austrian electricity market within the framework of energy flexibility, in order to see the possibilities and restrictions that will affect the future of flexibility development in the country. Some of the projects are still at their execution stage, and there is to enough data to conclude which one of the projects is best fitted for the Austrian energy market. However, it can be said that the Austrian flexibility project Flex-Hub is taking into account all the requirements needed to create a reliable and well performing flexibility platform. At this stage, the technological development is in advance of the legal framework,which in many ways is merely reactive. The EAG was only passed in 2019, and therefore in order for the energy market to further develop and to ensure the active participation of all the actors involved more research and studies into its effects are required.