In the first episode of Flexing the Future season 2, Rafael Feito Kiczak from Elia joins us to discuss how flexibility is becoming essential in Belgium’s evolving electricity system. As renewable energy sources such as solar and wind become more prominent, maintaining the balance between supply and demand becomes increasingly challenging. That is where flexibility plays a key role.
Elia, the Belgian high-voltage grid operator, ensures the grid runs smoothly and stays in balance at a constant frequency of 50 Hz. To prepare for the future, they conduct adequacy and flexibility studies looking ahead to 2036, exploring how the system can remain stable as energy consumption patterns shift and decentralised production grows.
Where flexibility once came primarily from large-scale fossil fuel plants, it is now increasingly provided through demand-side management, energy storage, electric vehicles and heat pumps. Consumers are becoming active contributors to grid stability.
This transition demands more than just technological innovation. It requires a systemic redesign, updated market frameworks and close collaboration among grid operators, policy makers and industry stakeholders. Flexibility is no longer optional but a fundamental pillar of a secure and sustainable energy future.
Find it all out in this new episode of our podcast Flexing the Future.
