What a reliable clean power system looks like

The document identifies nine clean flexibility tools categorized by their function: optimizing supply, storing energy, sharing electricity, and shifting demand. These tools include pumped hydro, batteries, long duration energy storage (LDES), green hydrogen, grids and interconnectors, peak shaving, and smart electrification. It argues that while the Azerbaijani delegation at COP29 proposed targets for storage, grid expansion, and green hydrogen, a comprehensive approach must also include demand-shifting and supply-flexibility tools to fully unlock renewable energy potential.

• A reliable clean power system requires nine flexibility tools divided into four functional categories: optimizing supply, storing energy, sharing electricity, and shifting demand.
• Storage tools for renewable power include batteries, pumped hydro storage, long duration energy storage (LDES) such as compressed air storage for periods of several days or weeks, and green hydrogen produced via electrolysis, though the latter is noted as inefficient due to losing over two-thirds of initial electricity in conversion.
• Demand-side flexibility is achieved through 'peak shaving', where consumers are incentivized to reduce consumption during predicted demand spikes, and 'smart electrification', where technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps automatically respond to dynamic pricing.
• Supply flexibility involves making generation assets capable of switching off to accommodate cheap renewable electricity, which can be achieved through technical and contractual improvements to fossil plants or by temporarily reducing wind and solar output during periods of extreme excess.
• The Azerbaijani delegation's COP29 proposals for a global storage target, a grid expansion target, and action on green hydrogen are considered insufficient because they omit tools for shifting demand and increasing supply flexibility.

APA

Ember (n.d.). What a reliable clean power system looks like. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/What-a-reliable-clean-power-system-looks-like.pdf

Chicago

Ember. What a reliable clean power system looks like. n.d. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/What-a-reliable-clean-power-system-looks-like.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=What a reliable clean power system looks like |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/What-a-reliable-clean-power-system-looks-like.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{emberndwhat, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{What a reliable clean power system looks like}}, institution = {Ember}, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/What-a-reliable-clean-power-system-looks-like.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }