On Monday 24 October, the European Commission announced that it has given the go-ahead to a German aid measure to stabilise the electricity gird by reducing large consumers’ energy consumption.
As part of the planned measure (Verordnung zum abschaltbaren Lasten, ‘AbLaV’), German grid operators can sign flexible weekly contracts with clients for up to 1,500 megawatts of capacity and can therefore reduce these clients’ consumption remotely and quickly in exchange for compensation.
Germany has shown that due to increasing use of intermittent renewable energy in its energy supply, its electricity grid needs increasing flexibility. The Commission concluded that AbLaV will improve grid managers’ ability to react to short-term volatility in demand for electricity. The Commission also found that the measure will have the long-term benefit of creating greater reactivity to demand. The good cost efficiency of the aid is guaranteed using competitive auctioning each week to determine the amount of compensation to be paid to clients. The Commission therefore concluded that AbLaV will improve short-term reliability and long-term security for the provision of electricity in Germany in conformity with EU state aid rules. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)