An overwhelming majority of Energy Institute members say government should incentivise flexibility, either through markets or other forms of support.
Polled for the Institute’s annual energy barometer, members suggested minimal progress has been made in energy system flexibility, and 82 per cent support flexibility incentives.
EI members view lack of political will as the main barrier to scaling up flexibility. Other barriers were ‘lack of integration between energy systems’ and ‘current market structures around flexibility’, both of which were identified by about a third of respondents.
Peer-to-peer energy ‘least desirable’, flex tariffs ‘most desirable’
Peer-to-peer energy will be the least attractive future energy service to consumers, tariffs that reward flexible demand the most attractive, according to the poll.
Meanwhile, they believe grid-scale battery storage and demand-side response (DSR) have the greatest growth potential over the next ten years.
Some 62% of members said tariffs that reward householders for flexible demand (dynamic time of use tariffs) are likely to be attractive to consumers by 2030. Only 15% said peer-to-peer would be attractive. Fewer than a third thought electrification of heat and transport would be attractive, which appears at odds with carmakers pushing en masse to electrify their models.
Members were less certain about technologies with the greatest short- to mid-term potential. Grid-scale battery storage was cited by 32%, non-domestic DSR by 26%, likewise small-scale battery storage (26%). Vehicle-to-grid was cited by 23%.
See the barometer here.
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Energy Institute: Policymakers must prioritise ‘poor child’ energy efficiency
Energy Institute urges retrofits and equipment upgrades to make quickest efficiency gains
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