Grid flexibility: how can consumers contribute?

With its new Happy Green Hours offer launched in October, ENGIE is giving customers in France two hours of free green electricity every afternoon, every day of the year. Through this unique offer in France, ENGIE encourages customers to consume smarter, at the most suitable time. The goal? To reduce their bills and support a more resilient power grid. The idea is to shift demand, whenever possible, to times when renewable power generation (especially solar) is abundant — and less expensive.

In most European countries, including France, off-peak/peak pricing encourages households to shift the consumption of water heaters, controllable appliances (dishwashers, washing machines, etc.), or EV charging. This system has existed for decades — in Germany, for example, it dates back to the 1960s.

For businesses, certain industrial players voluntarily reduce their consumption when the power system is strained, in exchange for payment (this is known as demand response). 

A major challenge

All these mechanisms contribute to what is known as demand-side flexibility. It complements supply-side flexibility, which relies on electricity generation assets: not least thermal plants, battery storage, and pumped-storage hydropower. The core purpose of flexibility remains the same: ensuring that electricity supply and demand can be balanced in real time.

This is a major challenge. According to ENGIE’s European decarbonization pathways, achieving climate goals requires multiplying flexibility solutions by a factor of 4.5. By 2050, nearly two-thirds of these flexibility capabilities will come from the demand side (the remaining third from supply). 

Two approaches to “flexibilizing” consumption

Rewarding responsible consumers

ENGIE has developed solutions such as Ecodéfi+ in France that reward customers when they successfully reduce their electricity consumption at certain moments. During cold spells, customers are notified the day before of a personalized consumption threshold not to exceed during a given time slot. If they succeed, they receive a reward of up to 4 euros per challenge. Happy Green Hours also rewards responsible consumption by offering free electricity during two preset afternoon hours.

In Australia, ENGIE launched a similar Reduce & Reward program, already adopted by several thousand customers. It is now complemented by an offer for electric water heaters. 

Smart scheduling of charging

Other solutions automatically optimize charging times, using smart software, based on the needs of the power system. ENGIE aims to scale these solutions in the coming years, supporting rapid electrification^(*) and the adoption of connected devices: electric water heaters, EVs, charging stations, smart radiators, heat pumps, air conditioners, behind-the-meter batteries, etc.

In France, the smart charging offer Ma Recharge Intelligente automatically charges the EV during the cheapest hours of the contract — aligned with the customer’s desired departure time and battery level. It can generate up to 28% savings per charge.

Similarly, in Belgium, the Smart Charge offer allows EV charging overnight at a preferential rate, with ENGIE starting the charge at the optimal time — especially when there is excess renewable generation. The same principle applies to ENGIE’s Slim Laden (Smart Charging) program in the Netherlands. 

_{^(*) Global electricity demand will almost double by 2050 across all customer segments (business and households), according to the International Energy Agency. In France, demand is expected to rise by around 30%, according to RTE.}