International. A study by the Danish company Danfoss revealed that the implementation of demand-side flexibility technologies in Europe would save 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Demand-side flexibility also has huge potential to save money on both a societal and consumer level. The European Union and the United Kingdom can achieve annual social cost savings of €10.5 billion by 2030 and €15.5 billion by 2050. In addition, the average consumer could save 7% on their electricity bill by 2030 and 10% by 2050.
These savings already account for most of the cost of implementing demand-side flexibility infrastructure.
Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss said that while the fossil fuel era is being overcome, there has been no future-proofing of the energy system because energy efficiency, which is one of the main tools for reducing emissions, is being neglected. In short: the grid is not ready to use all the renewable energy is being produced quickly.
"We must take steps to use energy-efficient solutions, such as demand-side flexibility technologies, that not only help us use less energy, but also use the right energy at the right time. We have the solutions, but we need action", Fausing said.
Key points
Demand-side flexibility refers to leveling energy consumption to avoid simultaneous periods of high demand and low supply, which is especially important for a renewables-based energy system.
Deploying demand-side flexibility technologies can reduce demand during expensive peak hours and reduce the amount of fossil fuels in the energy mix. In buildings, for example, AI-powered technologies can save up to 20% on a building's energy costs by combining building, weather, and user data to predict heating and ventilation demand.
Observations made in 100,000 flats equipped with this technology, mainly in Finland, show that maximum energy consumption was reduced by 10 to 30%.
During the recent energy crisis, European Union countries allocated €681 billion and the UK £90 billion (€103 billion) in response. Implementing demand-side flexibility technologies can make the grid more resilient and reduce the need for government subsidies at this scale.
Renewables must account for 70% of the energy mix by 2050 if the goals of the Paris Agreement are to be achieved. However, the energy system is not yet ready to manage the natural peaks and valleys of renewable energy supply.
The Danfoss white paper "Energy Efficiency 2.0: Engineering the Energy System of the Future" is available online.
