How to scale demand flexibility in Europe

The briefing outlines three primary policy areas to scale demand flexibility in Europe: accelerating smart meter rollout, implementing time-of-use tariffs, and removing barriers to automation and aggregation. It highlights the need for updated technical standards by 2026 and national objectives by 2027 to overcome slow implementation of EU rules.

• The European Commission is expected to approve new technical standards via the Network Code for Demand Response in early 2026 and provide guidance on flexibility remuneration in retail contracts, with Member states required to set national objectives for demand flexibility and storage by January 2027.
• Smart meter deployment varies significantly across the EU, with coverage exceeding 90% in France and Spain, but remaining as low as 2% in Germany and 36% in Poland.
• To increase flexibility, the document recommends updating static time-of-use tariffs to reflect daytime solar availability rather than nighttime baseload power, and shifting policy levies to general taxation to reduce fixed charges and clarify price signals.
• Scaling demand flexibility requires removing barriers to automation and aggregation, including avoiding restrictive compensation requirements for suppliers. The UK's mutual compensation model is cited as a more effective approach than the French practice of full compensation, which limits flexibility to incumbent suppliers.
• Full non-discriminatory participation of demand side flexibility in all power markets, including wholesale markets, is currently only possible in two EU countries, with the UK described as more advanced than any EU member state.

APA

Ember (2025). How to scale demand flexibility in Europe. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/how-to-scale-demand-flexibility-in-europe

Chicago

Ember. How to scale demand flexibility in Europe. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/how-to-scale-demand-flexibility-in-europe.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=How to scale demand flexibility in Europe |date=5 November 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/how-to-scale-demand-flexibility-in-europe |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025how, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{How to scale demand flexibility in Europe}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/how-to-scale-demand-flexibility-in-europe}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }