Clean flexibility is the brain managing the clean power system

The report outlines a portfolio of nine 'clean flexibility' tools categorized into storing, shifting, sharing, and supplying electricity to ensure grid stability in a renewable-heavy power system. It emphasizes that while storage and grids are critical, a comprehensive approach including demand-side management and flexible generation is necessary to achieve a fully clean electricity supply every hour.

• Clean flexibility consists of nine tools divided into four categories: 'Store' (pumped hydro/enhanced hydropower, batteries, long duration energy storage, and green hydrogen), 'Shift' (peak shaving and smart electrification), 'Share' (grids and interconnectors), and 'Supply' (improving downward fossil flexibility and smarter wind and solar).
• Storage tools vary by duration and cost. Pumped hydro and enhanced hydropower are established first steps; batteries are essential for solar complementarity; long duration energy storage (LDES) addresses 'dunkelflaute' periods (extended low wind/solar output); and green hydrogen serves as a long-term storage option, though it is inefficient as electricity storage because 'more than two thirds of the initial electricity supply is lost in conversions'.
• Demand-side flexibility tools allow consumers to shift usage to periods of abundant supply. 'Peak shaving' uses one-off payments for reducing consumption during critical times, while 'smart electrification' uses technologies like EVs and heat pumps to optimize daily consumption patterns via time-of-use or dynamic tariffs.
• Grids and interconnectors enable 'structural sharing' (moving power from high-potential areas to those in need) and 'temporal sharing' (exploiting weather and demand variations across regions). The European system, linking 39 national systems, provided €34 billion in benefits from lower price volatility in 2021.
• Supply optimization involves improving the 'downward fossil flexibility' of plants (including those with CCS) so they can turn off when renewables are abundant, and implementing 'smarter wind and solar' strategies. This includes 'overbuilding' capacity and accepting some cost-effective curtailment to avoid more expensive flexibility tools.
• The report critiques the COP29 agenda for focusing only on three measures—global storage targets, grid expansion, and green hydrogen—while ignoring demand-shifting and supply-flexibility tools.

APA

Rangelova, K., Petrovich, B., Jones, D., & Bruce-Lockhart, C. (2024). Clean flexibility is the brain managing the clean power system. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Clean-flexibility-is-the-brain-managing-the-clean-power-system.pdf

Chicago

Rangelova, Kostantsa, Beatrice Petrovich, Dave Jones, and Chelsea Bruce-Lockhart. Clean flexibility is the brain managing the clean power system. Ember, 2024. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Clean-flexibility-is-the-brain-managing-the-clean-power-system.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rangelova |first1=Kostantsa |last2=Petrovich |first2=Beatrice |last3=Jones |first3=Dave |last4=Bruce-Lockhart |first4=Chelsea |title=Clean flexibility is the brain managing the clean power system |publisher=Ember |date=30 October 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Clean-flexibility-is-the-brain-managing-the-clean-power-system.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rangelova2024clean, author = {Rangelova, Kostantsa and Petrovich, Beatrice and Jones, Dave and Bruce-Lockhart, Chelsea}, title = {{Clean flexibility is the brain managing the clean power system}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Clean-flexibility-is-the-brain-managing-the-clean-power-system.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }