Flexibility Takes Center Stage: 3 Key Insights from Europe’s Energy Leaders

1. Flexibility works — households are embracing it

Delta Green’s CPO Jan Hicl showed what happens when flexibility is built around customers. The key lies in getting the customer proposition right—Delta Green works directly with its own customers and pilots different approaches to see what really resonates with households. By aggregating thousands of homes into virtual power plants, the company enables suppliers to balance their portfolios and even access high-yield markets like aFRR. But the real breakthrough is customer adoption: with a 96% retention rate and users proudly sharing their experience online, flexibility is no longer just about revenues. It’s about giving households transparency, comfort, and the sense of contributing to the clean-energy transition.

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2. Suppliers are scaling flexibility into real products

Jana Hrabětová, Head of Strategy and Innovations at E.ON in Czechia, highlighted how Europe’s second-largest energy supplier is leading the way with E.ON Balance, its first household flexibility product. Customers with PV and batteries earn around €18 per month by allowing E.ON to steer their assets, while keeping full visibility on operations. For E.ON, this means reduced imbalance costs and richer data for forecasting. For customers, it means a better payback on their solar and storage investments—and the feeling of actively supporting the grid. E.ON plans to expand further, integrating flexibility into ancillary services for TSOs and DSOs.

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3. The potential is massive — and regulation will unlock it

Michael Villa, Executive Director of Smarten, emphasized the €24–58 billion annual potential of residential flexibility across the EU. For households, that translates into monthly savings of €22–53 plus extra income of €9–20 from selling flexibility back to the grid. And to make this opportunity a reality, regulation is catching up. As Sultan Aliyev of ENTSO-E noted, the upcoming Network Code on Demand Response is a key step. This framework will not only unlock building flexibility across Europe but also serves as a cornerstone of the EU's broader energy strategy. It aims to strengthen energy security, bolster the industry's competitiveness in green technologies, and accelerate the green transition toward a more resilient and decarbonized energy system.

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The bottom line

From viral household adoption to large-scale supplier products and EU-wide regulation, flexibility is moving from concept to cornerstone. With leaders like Delta Green, E.ON, Smarten, and ENTSO-E driving the agenda, Europe is one step closer to a smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy system.