Czech households may help stabilize the grid, ČEPS successfully tests

Czech households may be able to play an active role in maintaining the stability of the domestic electricity grid for a fee as early as this year. The Czech transmission system operator, state-owned company ČEPS, has successfully conducted the first test in Czechia of households providing balancing services, in cooperation with energy company Delta Green. If the option becomes available, participating households could earn several thousand crowns a year, according to estimates. ČEPS said this to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today.

The test took place at the end of last year. Following instructions from ČEPS to increase electricity consumption or supply, Delta Green tested a selected sample of its customers over three consecutive nights to assess their ability to deliberately adjust generation output or electricity consumption in their homes. The aim was to provide balancing services to the grid.

„We remotely controlled electricity consumption in households and the supply of electricity to the grid, following instructions from ČEPS. We controlled solar battery systems, but in the future we also want to include electric vehicle charging, heat pumps and water heaters,“ said Delta Green CEO Jan Hicl.

He said the test was very successful. „Of the seven balancing blocks in total, we passed five without a hitch. The results exceeded our expectations, and we would like to launch the service commercially later this year,” Hicl added.

The state-owned company also gave the test results a positive assessment. „They represent another milestone in the development of aggregation blocks and the involvement of the smallest devices in managing the Czech electricity system,” said Martin Kašák, head of the Energy Market Division at ČEPS.

Households may be allowed to provide balancing services as early as this year. A smart meter will be required. According to the companies, people will not be restricted in how they use their appliances. „We control appliances during pre-agreed time slots and always in a way that does not disrupt the running of the household, while helping people earn as much as possible. It cannot happen that there is no hot water in the morning or that an electric vehicle is not charged,“ Hicl added.

Balancing services are important for maintaining the stability of the electricity grid. They are provided, among others, by so-called flexibility aggregators. These are entities that use flexibility from a larger number of producers or consumers and turn it into standard products that they offer on various electricity or balancing services markets.

Currently, industrial resources are involved in balancing the grid in Czechia. However, Hicl said households have greater potential because they are not constrained by industrial processes. According to ČEPS, experience from Western markets has shown that aggregators can replace fossil-fuel power plants and enable a transition to digital and sustainable energy.