Power System Flexibility Campaign

The objectives of this campaign are to: 

• Deepen understanding of available flexibility resources; 
• Harness digitalisation for flexibility and resilience in the power system;
• Highlight policy options for cost-effective flexibility deployment; and
• Showcase innovative and scalable approaches. 

The growth of variable renewable energy capacity calls for increased system flexibility. Flexible dispatchable power plants are a main source of flexibility in power systems, alongside grids, demand shaping, and storage. 

In many power systems, regulations, market design, and contractual arrangements may encourage an inflexible operation of power plants. A better understanding of the capabilities that are needed in the power system of the future can foster a better use of existing power generation assets.

Many countries are demonstrating that a flexible power supply can successfully deal with fluctuations in supply and demand.

To campaign focuses on three types of activities and products:

• High-level policy forums: Aimed at deploying, harnessing and consolidating public-private momentum on strategies for system flexibility.
• Deep-dive events: Will feature three deep-dive workshops on the following topics: grids and storage; demand-side management and digitalisation; and power plants and future markets. These will provide a platform for operational level experts both industry, ministries, regulators, and utilities to exchange experiences and devise concrete actions for flexibility. The findings will be passed to policy-makers and wider audiences through policy briefs.
• Policy briefs: Will provide follow-up information related to each deep dive event aimed at maximising visibility throughout the campaign. These will offer campaign participants the opportunity to prepare timely input while recognizing key data gaps in the lead-up to the final campaign report.

Please review the campaign’s brochure for additional details regarding actions. To learn more or participate in the campaign, please contact Enrique Gutierrez (Enrique.Gutierrez@iea.org). 

Enrique.gutierreztavarez@iea.org