In accordance with the European Green Deal, the EU is working towards reducing carbon emissions and becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. At the same time, in reaction to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the EU is also looking to reduce its dependence on foreign energy.

The answer to both goals is renewable energy sources and energy flexibility.

Unfortunately, making the switch to renewable energy involves much more than plugging in the grid and flipping a switch.

"Introducing new services capable of supporting a high share of renewable energy requires that future smart grids are able to facilitate an effective interaction between energy markets and grid management systems," says Manos Varvarigos, a professor at the National Technical University of Athens.

Bridging this gap between reliable grid operation, energy flexibility and market efficiency is the main goal of the EU-funded FLEXGRID project.

It starts with energy flexibility

FLEXGRID is all about energy flexibility. “The idea is simple – to build an online marketplace where flexibility buyers can easily purchase services from flexibility suppliers,” explains Varvarigos, who coordinated the project.

According to Varvarigos, what the project calls FlexBuyers includes distribution system operators (DSOs), who use flexibility to deal with local network problems. It also includes transmission system operators (TSOs), who procure ancillary services from flexible assets at the distribution level, along with balance responsible parties (BRPs) looking to balance their portfolios.

On the other side of the FLEXGRID equation are FlexSuppliers. This group includes energy retailers that leverage flexibility from end-consumer assets, renewable energy suppliers who operate storage and dispatchable units, and independent aggregator companies that have contracts with a portfolio of energy prosumers and electric vehicles.

An online flexibility marketplace

Between these two groups is the FLEXGRID Automated Trading Platform (ATP), an online flexibility marketplace where FlexBuyers can easily buy services from FlexSuppliers.

The marketplace is comprised of several innovative digital tools, each of which targets the real-life business needs of a specific energy player. For example, a flexibility market operator can use the Flexibility Market Clearing Toolkit to clear the local flexibility market by taking into consideration distribution-network constraints, while a DSO can use this same tool to identify flexibility needs and thus avoid local congestion and voltage control problems.

The marketplace also includes toolkits designed for FlexSuppliers and for independent aggregators.

"On the demand side, FlexBuyers can use these tools to automatically formulate flexibility requests, while on the supply side, FlexSuppliers can automatically formulate flexibility offers," remarks Varvarigos.

"Both sides of the market can then submit their bids to the FLEXGRID ATP, which automatically finds the optimal flexibility demand and supply matches."

Advancing the transition towards renewable energy

Thanks to its use of advanced mathematical models and complex algorithms, the FLEXGRID project succeeded at closing the gap between reliable grid operation and energy flexibility market efficiency.

"By bridging the conflicting interests of various energy market stakeholders and finding optimal equilibrium points, FLEXGRID has advanced the transition towards renewable energy," concludes Varvarigos..

"In doing so, not only are we helping Europe reduce its carbon footprint, but we’re also reducing energy costs for European citizens."

FLEXGRID’s solutions also have the potential to provide policymakers with the scientific and technical information they need to make informed energy decisions. As such, researchers are now working to test the project’s solutions via pilot demonstrators in several EU Member States.