Last week, FLEXCON 2024 took over Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, bringing together the brightest minds in Europe’s energy sector. Organized by Flexiblepower Alliance Network and smartEn, the event attracted over 300 participants, from energy system operators and policymakers to tech innovators and industry leaders. The conference focused on the one topic that plays to our strengths: the future of flexible energy systems.
Tickets sold out fast, and for good reason - FLEXCON has become the go-to event for anyone looking to promote energy flexibility. Over three days, the conference offered a packed agenda full of presentations, discussions, and networking, with plenty of speculation about what’s next for the energy transition.
We were very grateful to be in the mix! We heard of the coming of age of the sector, with startups who have until now relied on funding by angel investors now reporting growing revenues with positive EBITDA in sight. This welcome development is being driven by the increasingly favorable market conditions, and improving ease of market access.
We watched some key presentations and had many talks with experts from the energy sector throughout Europe. Here's our takeaway:
Demand response and Net Zero
One of the big talking points this year was the role of demand response (DR) in Europe’s path toward net-zero emissions. Pierre Bivas, Founder of Voltalis, gave a standout keynote on how DR can help balance the grid as we shift to renewable energy. Essentially, demand response lets us adjust energy usage in real-time, which becomes crucial as renewables like wind and solar grow, given their variable output.
Duck curves and negative price periods
The volatility of intraday prices continues to increase, with California-style duck curves emerging, and the number of negative price periods growing faster than forecasted. On the access side, EV wall box chargers and other small-scale assets are now being aggregated into aFRR and even FCR markets. This development will boost flexibility and demonstrates how smaller assets can play a significant role in balancing supply and demand in real-time.
Smart platforms
Throughout the event, there was a lot of focus on smart platforms and how they’re changing energy flexibility. Experts like Helena Gerard from EnergyVille and Chris Broadhurst from Electron dug into how platforms are evolving to manage everything from EV chargers to home batteries. It’s clear that these platforms will be vital in managing the energy grids of the future, especially as we bring more renewable energy online.
Challenges on the horizon
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Several speakers pointed out the hurdles still facing the industry. A big one? Standardization. Right now, there’s a lack of common standards for connecting assets like EV chargers and heat pumps to flexibility markets. Each system has its own way of doing things, which complicates scaling up solutions across different countries and grids.
And there’s an issue of market access. Smaller players still face high accreditation costs just to participate in flexibility markets. There were some discussions around dynamic derating factors as a potential way to lower these barriers, but it’s clear that more innovation is needed to open the doors for smaller assets.
Localization: A new approach to VPPs
Traditionally, expanding VPPs across borders has been a complicated process due to different market structures, regulations, and integration requirements in each country. We used the fully packed FLEXCON as an opportunity to chat with fellow attendees about a new approach to handling such VPP localization challenges. Instead of each VPP provider dealing with these obstacles alone, we propose a partnership model where VPP platforms collaborate with local counterparts. By sharing expertise and localization efforts, this approach would make it easier for VPPs to expand into new markets, reducing costs and speeding up deployment.
Looking forward
With FLEXCON 2024 wrapped up, it’s clear that the flexible energy sector is now taking off: More players are entering the market, and innovations are coming fast, but there are still challenges to tackle, especially around standardization and making market participation easier for everyone.
There’s a real sense that the industry is on the cusp of something big, and this fair was the perfect place to discuss where it’s all headed. Big thanks to smartEn and Flexiblepower Alliance Network for hosting another successful FLEXCON! We’re already looking forward to what next year will bring.