Exploring the potential of flexibility in energy-intensive industries

CIRCE, a member of the FLEXINDUSTRIES project, has published a comprehensive paper that sheds light on industrial decarbonisation strategies for energy-intensive industries.

Decarbonising energy-intensive industries is key to achieving the European Union’s ambitious goals of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

However, the growing demand for electricity requires the intensification of energy generation using clean technologies, and the expansion of the energy system is hampered by the climate dependence of renewable energy generation and the need for significant investments in electricity infrastructure.

This study provides important information on overcoming the constraints imposed by the climate dependence of renewable energy sources and the significant investment required to expand electricity infrastructure.

FLEXINDUSTRIES Project

FLEXINDUSTRIES is a strategic project aimed at developing and testing new energy efficiency solutions for energy-intensive industries.

To achieve and exploit the results, the project must involve the scientific community and leverage technical expertise.

This will enable the development of knowledge and ensure that solutions fully meet the needs of the industry.

The work undertaken will inform policy, including strategies such as the EU Green Deal. The project will also engage financial partners to help deliver cost-effective solutions.

Key findings on reducing energy-intensive industries

This paper provides an in-depth assessment of flexibility mechanisms applicable to seven key sectors and FLEXINDUSTRIES pilot projects: automotive, biofuels, polymers, steel, paper, pharmaceuticals and cement.

The project is conducting research to assess the current state of flexibility technologies, the participation of industries in energy markets and their technical and operational readiness to implement these mechanisms.

The study’s key findings highlight the value of increasing energy market flexibility through demand response programmes, which can deliver significant energy savings and operational benefits.

Overcoming technical obstacles

In addition, the document identifies specific regulatory and technical hurdles that need to be overcome to fully exploit these opportunities.

The study reveals that while energy-intensive industries often limit their interaction with energy markets to simple energy purchasing, there is significant opportunity to leverage explicit flexibility mechanisms such as capacity provision and “Power to X” in sectors such as automotive, biofuels and pharmaceuticals.

Hidden flexibility, such as optimizing manageable loads in response to price signals, has potential in industries such as automotive, pharmaceuticals and paper mills when coupled with renewable energy sources or storage availability.