The role of flexibility in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Contributing to a sustainable and resilient energy future in Europe

TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of flexibility in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

T2 - Contributing to a sustainable and resilient energy future in Europe

AU - Heffron, Raphael J.

AU - Körner, Marc-Fabian

AU - Schöpf, Michael

AU - Wagner, Jonathan

AU - Weibelzahl, Martin

N1 - The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Kopernikus-Project “SynErgie” by the BMBF – Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany and the project supervision by the project management organization Projekttr¨ ager Jülich (PtJ). Supported by PayPal and the Luxembourg National Research Fund FNR (P17/IS/13342933/PayPal-FNR/Chair in DFS/Gilbert Fridgen).

PY - 2021/4

Y1 - 2021/4

N2 - The energy sector provides fuel for much of everyday life, particularly economically and socially. Fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, a well-functioning and resilient energy sector is vital for maintaining the operation of critical infrastructures, including, most importantly, the health sector, and timely economic recovery. Notwithstanding its importance in everyday life and crises, the energy sector itself is currently in a complex and far-reaching transformation to combat climate change whilst supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and society, mainly through the development of variable renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar photovoltaics. This paper highlights the need for energy resilience as countries face the triple challenge of the COVID-19 health crisis, the consequent economic crisis, and the climate crisis. Focusing on Europe, it is advanced here that with the ability to balance fluctuating electricity generation and demand, flexibility allows the energy sector to utilise low-carbon RES reliably, ensuring a more resilient and sustainable energy future. This paper derives five urgent policy recommendations for Europe that address possible impacts of COVID-19 on the economic and societal prerequisites for flexibility in energy systems.

AB - The energy sector provides fuel for much of everyday life, particularly economically and socially. Fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, a well-functioning and resilient energy sector is vital for maintaining the operation of critical infrastructures, including, most importantly, the health sector, and timely economic recovery. Notwithstanding its importance in everyday life and crises, the energy sector itself is currently in a complex and far-reaching transformation to combat climate change whilst supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and society, mainly through the development of variable renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar photovoltaics. This paper highlights the need for energy resilience as countries face the triple challenge of the COVID-19 health crisis, the consequent economic crisis, and the climate crisis. Focusing on Europe, it is advanced here that with the ability to balance fluctuating electricity generation and demand, flexibility allows the energy sector to utilise low-carbon RES reliably, ensuring a more resilient and sustainable energy future. This paper derives five urgent policy recommendations for Europe that address possible impacts of COVID-19 on the economic and societal prerequisites for flexibility in energy systems.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Electricity system flexibility

KW - Renewable energy sources

KW - Resilience

KW - Sustainability

KW - Sustainable development goals

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85100012785

U2 - 10.1016/j.rser.2021.110743

DO - 10.1016/j.rser.2021.110743

M3 - Article

C2 - 34720660

VL - 140

JO - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

JF - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

M1 - 110743

ER -