Flexibility services for household consumers in Finland: Requirements and provided properties

Abstract

The ability to shift energy consumption to a time when a lot of energy is available supports the integration of renewable energy sources. Services that intend to do this automatically are currently emerging in the markets. These kinds of flexibility services are targeted as smart services to household consumers, promising them cost savings, optimal living conditions, and other benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current demand and offering of these kinds of services in Finland. We performed an extensive consumer survey to untangle consumers’ potential, motivation, and engagement in flexibility services and surveyed the properties, similarities, and differences of the flexibility services in the markets. We then defined a quality dimensions framework for flexibility services, with which we evaluated the results to understand the required properties of the services from a consumer viewpoint and how the services respond to these requirements. The results show that Finnish household consumers are quite willing and ready for these kinds of services, and several services are currently available that fulfill some of the identified requirements. Most of the services are currently provided to larger customers, but it should be noted that there also exists demand among individual households. Therefore, clearer incentives, unambiguous definitions of responsibilities, and effortless service introductions are required to motivate consumer participation.