Regulatory experimentation as a tool to test innovative solutions to enhance flexibility markets deployment in Europe

Regulatory experimentation is recognised as a key tool by different sector stakeholders and regulatory authorities to test innovative products and services that are not yet permitted within current regulatory frameworks. In the energy sector, regulatory experiments are used to test solutions in different areas such as flexibility, which is a crucial topic for the energy transition since it allows electricity grid operators to manage situations with an increased peak demand and contributes to the grid stability and reliability. This paper explores the existing flexibility related regulatory frameworks and experiments at the European level, focusing on how their results can allow the deployment of flexibility markets in Europe, and the improvement and harmonisation of the European regulatory framework.