Abstract
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.
Highlights
In everyday life, energy forms the basis of economic welfare and the satisfaction of societal needs, including education, nutrition, and leisure activities
While COVID-19 underlines the importance of reliable electricity supply in crises situations, this paper argues that resilience cannot be taken for granted in future electricity systems
The COVID-19 pandemic underlines the importance of wellfunctioning and resilient electricity systems
Summary
Energy forms the basis of economic welfare and the satisfaction of societal needs, including education, nutrition, and leisure activities. Given the coincidence of three different crises at the same time – the COVID-19 health crisis, the consequent economic crisis, and the climate crisis – this paper aims to advance the role of flexibility in the electricity system It highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic can contribute to successfully integrating RES into the en ergy system and delivering increased resilience, preparing the electricity system for future shocks that may, for instance, stem from natural disasters [18,19]. The development of sufficient flexibility has a two-fold benefit of meeting societies’ energy and climate targets and ensuring that the electricity system plays its role in securing sustainable, long-term economic growth while contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) In this context, a stable and resilient electricity system that activates and integrates the relevant flexibility suppliers (including, for example, industrial companies, households, owners of electric vehicles, or storage facility operators) may lead to a more inclusive and just energy system benefitting all relevant stakeholders, that is, citizens, society, industrial companies, the environment, etc.
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