Power System Flexibility in the Penta region – Current State and Challenges for a Future Decarbonised Energy System

The study ‘Power System Flexibility in the Penta region’ is the third in a series of interlinked studies ordered by the ministers of energy of the Pentalateral Energy Forum. It was commissioned by the Benelux Secretariat General on behalf of the Pentalateral Energy Forum. The study was performed by Trinomics in cooperation with Artelys.

With the transformation of the energy system and the subsequent shift to intermittent renewables, it is widely recognized that the patterns of flexibility in the electricity grid is set to change. The study has three parts:

1. the first part structures the topic of flexibility and thus contributes to a common understanding and also contains an overview of the implementation of flexibility regulations in the Penta region,
2. the second part examines the future flexibility needs for 2030/40/50 and identifies synergies that can emerge from a cross-border exchange of flexibility in the Penta region,
3. the third and last part contains an examination of current barriers and recommendations on how flexibility potentials can be exploited and made more accessible across borders.

The researchers found that flexibility needs at the daily and weekly timeframes, driven by the integration of solar PV and wind energy generation respectively, will be most impacted, increasing by up to 2 times by 2030 and up to 6 times by 2050 compared to today.

Publication Date

3.03.2023

Initiator

Benelux Secretariat General on behalf of the Pentalateral Energy Forum

Authors

• Trinomics (Luc van Huffel, João Gorenstein, Csinszka Bene, Mohammad Ansarin)
• Artelys (Tobias Bossmann, Felipe Gonzalez Venegas, Guilherme Nascimento, Luc Humberset)

Partners

• Pentalateral Energy Forum
• Steering Committee (Matthias Haller (Swiss Federal Office of Energy), Pieter Koning (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands), Hugo van der Heijden (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands), Florian Galler (Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria), Dorian Pycke (Benelux Secretariat General )

Our Team

• Dorian Pycke
• Yvonne Havenga
• Frederik Deloof
• Jan Molema