Flexibility as A Solution!: Enabling Resilience in the Future Grid [Editor’s Voice]

Flexibility can significantly improve an energy system’s ability to balance variable renewable energy sources (RESs) with changing electricity demand, enhancing stability and resilience and cost-effectiveness. Through adjustment of power generation and consumption, flexibility enables greater integration of renewables and utilization of energy storage systems to balance supply, leads to more efficient use of existing infrastructure, supports faster adoption of net-zero strategies, and mitigates the impact of fluctuations in supply and demand. In this context, to become more flexible, the power system needs to become more resilient; be able to adapt to a sharp drop in conventional generation, the rise of renewables, and increases in electricity demand; and withstand, recover from, and adapt to the impact of severe events.