Think Smartgrids highlights urgency to speed up demand side flexibility in France

French industry association Think Smartgrids makes the case to lead the national industrial scale deployment of flexibility, focusing initially on demand side consumption, in a new report.

The report, aimed to present the status of the market and to review the challenges of scaling flexibility, takes as its starting point TSO RTE’s recent adequacy report with scenarios to 2035 and its highlighting of the importance of demand management and battery storage.

Of these, based on its research, including input from members and other stakeholders in the sector, Think Smartgrids believes that demand management is the most promising option in the short term.

As such three flexibility ‘levers’ are identified that should be activated as a priority, the association states – the price lever based on smart metering, load shifting in industry and demand side management in the tertiary building sector, i.e. offices, shopping centres, public buildings, etc.

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Residential demand side management also could be accelerated for short curtailment needs, such as winter consumption peaks, where electric heating accounts for almost half the peak demand, but in the short term its potential is small compared with that of tertiary buildings.

Think Smartgrids suggests in the report that the immediate approach should be awareness and support from public authorities towards the implementation of variable tariffs and the installation of the necessary control technologies with electricity consumers.

The main challenge, however, is the investment required, indicating an urgent need to consider financing options and remuneration for flexibility.

The association also states that the focus initially should be on mature and proven solutions, such as space and water heating and HVAC.

Interactions between actors from all sectors must be carefully coordinated and information and communication technologies and market mechanisms will be key to ensure this coordination and facilitate sectoral integration.

Ultimately however, for the functioning of a system with a much greater share of renewables, an expanded and coordinated mobilisation of all the levers – production, consumption and storage – as well as network infrastructures dimensioned in a smart way will be needed.

Turning to the delivery of flexibility, Think Smartgrids comments that the roles of public authorities and the regulator are fundamental.

But time is running out and uncertainties such as geopolitical conflicts can still modify the context and actions on an industrial – or at least semi-industrial – scale need to be launched now.

With the central position of Think Smartgrids within the French ecosystem and the range of solutions offered by members as well as the presence of public institutions on the board, the association points to it being the favoured actor for this role.

Think Smartgrids states that it has taken up the subject because it will play a major role in the development of smart electricity grids.

The association also indicates that this report will be followed before the end of Q1 2024 with a second part with recommendations on hardware and digital solutions and interoperability for flexibility and that pilots are to be launched to build the technical-economic framework for a mass-scale rollout.