The second session of Connecting Energies 2024 will explore the key approaches and enabling technologies that electricity grid operators use to balance electricity demand and supply. Load balancing and flexibility ensure the electricity grid operates safely by managing electricity during periods of surplus and scarcity while maintaining frequency and voltage.

As we move towards an energy system dominated by renewables, managing variability and uncertainty becomes critical, requiring new strategies to handle fluctuations in electricity generation. Grid flexibility solutions such as storage, demand-side management, and real-time monitoring are essential for dealing with these challenges.

Additionally, increasingly demand-driven decarbonisation approaches aim at aligning renewable electricity generation with demand on an hourly basis, ensuring that every hour of consumption is powered by carbon-free sources. These practices, developing under the umbrella of so-called 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) approach, have the potential to accelerate decarbonisation, but require careful planning and implementation.

The session will also address current and future trends and technological advancements in electricity grid management, to ensure the grid remains stable and resilient in the face of increasing renewable energy integration. Learning these will enable civil society organisations to better understand solutions that have a positive impact on the energy transition at large.