Our key takeaway: Flexibility is key

Flexibility is key at all levels of the energy value chain. And as it’s used more actively, market and business opportunities open up for all market parties, new players and consumers.

We can break this flexibility down into the following components;

It has to happen now

With just seven years remaining to reach the 2030 target of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and the annual energy consumption by 1,5%, as set forth in the European Clean Energy pack, there is broad consensus that we have the technology needed to transform the energy system, but we must focus our efforts on making change happen.

Current global events underline the importance for Europe and its energy suppliers to increase security of supply and to move away from fossil fuels.

Access to data

Data is a core asset for the energy transition, it needs to be interoperable and made available in real-time.

In the upcoming years the focus will be on removing barriers and ensuring access to real-time consumption data for consumers.

This way the consumers can take up a bigger role in reducing peak time demand, can benefit from flexible tariffs and reduce their energy bill.

New players are on the move

With smart meters and smart meter applications becoming more mainstream, we see that our clients are creating an integrated offering allowing more client engagement.

Not only established players in the energy market, but also third parties are developing new hard- and software to enable the customer to keep a close eye on their energy consumption.

Storage solutions are indispensable to the energy transition

Today increasing the share of renewables seems to be on everybody’s mind along with the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels to reduce co2 emissions and secure energy supply.

However, without energy storage to balance supply and demand expanding the share of renewables further would not be possible thus ultimately putting energy supply at risk.

Currently we have around 60GW in energy storage capacity within the EU. According to estimates from the European association for storage of energy at least 187GW by 2030 and 600GW by 2050 would be needed to enable electrification of various economic sectors while securing grid stability.

There is an increased demand for standardization

Given the fact that the EU consists of many different countries and levels of development it is easy to understand why a common language framework must be a top priority.

For this the Bridge Initiative was created with a focus on defining a common language framework throughout the European energy sector.

One focus is identifying and evaluating existing and new or innovative business models, distilling a common EU-wide framework. Another focus is unifying the digitalization of the energy system by enabling cross-sector and interoperable data handling.

Since Trilations, specializes in both business and data consultancy, we will be following the development of this framework closely.