The “Grids & Benefits” project took a close look at dynamic electricity tariffs and now shows that they can actually significantly reduce the load on electricity networks. At the same time, these also bring financial benefits for consumers.
With the growing share of renewable energies in the electricity mix, electricity generation is becoming increasingly dependent on the weather. Solar and wind turbines naturally rely on solar radiation or strong wind.
However, in times of calm winds or darkness, these systems can produce significantly less electricity. These fluctuations are considered a central challenge for the energy transition and require new ways to better coordinate production and consumption in the electricity system.
Dynamic electricity tariffs are considered part of the solution because they flexibly adapt the electricity price to supply and demand in the network. This can depend on the time of day or current workload, for example.
They are also intended to encourage consumers to use electricity when it is available in abundance and cheaply. But how effective can the use of dynamic electricity tariffs really be to ease the load on the electricity grid?
The innovation project “Grids & Benefits” examined exactly this in a pilot project. The study examined how consumers react to variable price signals – and whether the charging of electric cars can be measurably postponed to times with lower network utilization.
“Grids & Benefits” tests the influence of dynamic electricity prices
The “Grids & Benefits” project was the first to examine in practice what influence dynamic electricity prices can actually have on the behavior of electricity customers and the utilization of the networks. A pilot test tested whether information about variable prices could persuade consumers to specifically postpone the charging of electric cars.
Under the leadership of the non-profit UnternehmerTUM GmbH, partners from the entire value chain were involved in the project. These included, among others, RWTH Aachen University, EWE Netz, Maingau Energie, Octopus Energy and The Mobility House Energy.
A basic concept for calculating dynamic labor prices was first developed together. This can provide consumers with variable price signals and at the same time specifically control network utilization.
The subsequent pilot project consisted of two central elements. For example, discounted charging prices at public charging points were tested as an incentive to use other charging time slots.
500 customers of The Mobility House and Octopus Energy were involved in the second part of the pilot phase. Here, charging at home with dynamic network fees was examined closely. The effects of automated optimization of charging processes were measured here over several months.
What effects can dynamic electricity prices have?
The innovation project “Grids & Benefits” shows that targeted price signals to consumers can significantly influence the postponement of charging processes. According to this, around 70 percent of charging processes were actually postponed compared to charging plans with static network fees.
This meant that 20 percent of the charged energy could be moved to other time windows. The network load was significantly reduced, especially during the typical peak load times in the morning and evening.
But it’s not just the network that benefits from the changed charging times. Postponing the charging process also has a financial advantage for consumers.
For example, Maingau Energie customers were informed about discounted charging time slots via the “Autostrom app”. The test customers were divided into two groups: one received information when the price was reduced by ten cents, the second when the price was reduced by 20 cents per kilowatt hour.
In the control group with a ten cent discount per kilowatt hour, those responsible for the project were able to measure an increase of two percent in charging processes. In the group with a saving of 20 cents per kilowatt hour, ten percent of charging processes shifted to the so-called “super green hours”.
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