Enabling Small-Scale Actors to Operate on Markets of Energy and Ancillary Services

Widespread renewable energy alters infrastructures and business by changing a way to balance between the demand and the offer. In customer-centered model, flexible economic behavior of small-scaled energy actors mitigates variability and uncertainty in flows of power and energy. Flexible cooperative behavior of many intraday market participants has a potential to reduce uncertainty in renewable energy flows. However, owners of small-scale renewable energy plants play limited market role. This chapter presents changed socio-economic and technology contexts and attracts attention to new challenges. New ICT enabler activates role of small-scale renewable energy actors by complementing their physical energy by structured information about the capacity and flexibility. In new market scenario, unpredictability of renewable energy is reduced by adding knowledge and exploiting better flexible behavior. Main conclusion is about using the information about flexibility to activate small-scale actors on real-time markets while improving ecological sustainability.