The enormous installation of renewable energies and flexible devices (like wallboxes, storages or heatpumps) and the resulting increase in grid usage is leading to ever greater challenges but also opportunities for the market, grid and system. The expansion of the electricity grids to cope with short-term power peaks runs contrary to the goal of an affordable energy transition. However, in order to improve the integration of renewable energies as well as market, grid and system services, it is essential to enable and utilize market integration for micro-flexibility and flexible households as a whole.

Market players currently act independently and pass on market-oriented control actions directly to micro-flexibilities in the low-voltage grid. High simultaneities due to uniform market-based price incentives can lead to congestion situations and overloads in the low-voltage grid. Although grid operators have reactive measures to resolve congestion (§ 14a EnWG). These unplanned interventions are counterproductive for market optimization and usually have to function in a targeted manner in a short-term, targeted manner in order to eliminate the congestion.

For more planning security for the grid and market, proactive harmonization with an envelope curve is to be used for the early communication of free grid capacities, which can be used for market optimizations. The aim of the envelope curve concept is to strategically integrate flexibility in the low voltage, avoid load peaks, strengthen system stability and usefully supplement curative control elements. Regulatory anchoring is required in order to fully exploit the potential of this solution.