West Sweden, with its heavy industry and rapid electrification, like many other parts of Sweden and Europe, is facing a growing challenge with projected power shortages in the electricity grids. As a complement to traditional solutions such as time-consuming grid expansion, Göteborg Energi Nät and Mölndal Energi Nät purchase flexibility in winter on the local flexibility market Effekthandel Väst.

CheckWatt alone, together with more than 500 households and businesses in western Sweden, has connected batteries that have been able to provide 7.6 MW of flexible capacity to deliver power when the need is greatest on cold winter days.

The owners of the batteries were thus able to increase their revenue substantially. An average 10 kW battery yielded around SEK 740 (corresponding to around €65) in compensation for delivered local flexibility. Combined with income from ancillary services, which were also delivered during the period, the total income amounted to around SEK 1 800 over the three-month period of the flex market. By comparison, a battery selling only ancillary services earned around SEK 1 100 during the period.

It was an unusually mild winter, which was also reflected in the number of hours the batteries needed to be activated due to high power demand in the electricity grids; on average 8 hours in Mölndal and 14 hours in Gothenburg.

Local flexibility is a key component of a sustainable and efficient grid of the future, and offers significant benefits for grid companies. By partnering with actors like CheckWatt and utilizing batteries and other flexible resources, grid companies can reduce the need for costly grid expansion. By shaving power peaks, existing infrastructure can be used more efficiently, postponing or reducing the need for major investments. This in turn leads to lower costs and ultimately lower network charges for consumers. It also enables more new customers to be connected more quickly, which means that the electrification of society can be accelerated.

About 10 percent of CheckWatt’s customers currently live in an area where the local grid owner buys flexibility during the coldest days of the year. These are few hours, but they are often well paid for. Within a few years – driven by EU legislation and accelerating electrification – we expect that virtually all grid companies in Sweden will need to buy local flexibility to avoid unnecessarily expensive grid expansion.