Abstract

The electricity system is changing. Due to the climate targets, the share of fluctuating renewable energy will continue to rise in the next few years, and conventional, fossil fuels will increasingly take a back seat. This creates the challenge of balancing supply and demand in the power system and increases the need for flexibility in the electricity system. In this article flexibility in energy systems is introduced, flexibility options are categorised along existing literature and a method is explained to approach the estimation of flexibility potential by means of two example regions. Therefore, 13 flexibility options in the electricity system in four categories are analysed: flexible generators, demand side management, storage, and power-to-X. By means of the two study regions Prignitz in Brandenburg and Anhalt-Bitterfeld-Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, a practicable, transferable method to quantify and compare the technical potentials of the flexibility options at a high regional level is developed.