Two major private actors, Veolia, through its subsidiary Flexcity, and enspired, will work together in the Netherlands and Belgium to combine their unique expertise to offer cross-market battery optimization. This partnership combines local market expertise and ancillary services value creation with cutting-edge trading capabilities and allows for an optimum revenue stack for batteries on multiple markets. Our joint offering is unique in its transparency and has already secured several battery projects in the Netherlands - one of which goes live this month.
An important step forward for the energy transition and BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) offers in Belgium and the Netherlands: Vienna-based optimizer enspired and Flexcity, a Veolia subsidiary from Brussels offering flexibility solutions across multiple European countries, have partnered up to launch a comprehensive cross-market battery optimization offer for the Dutch and Belgian markets. The collaboration was initiated in response to the growing local demand for a complete commercial strategy that covers all facets of BESS optimization. From 2025, battery owners and operators in the Netherlands and Belgium will have access to the best-in-class full-range RTM (Route-To-Market) service package that includes optimization across wholesales (intraday, day-ahead, imbalance), aFRR (automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve) capacity and energy as well as congestion services.
In the Netherlands, battery optimization in its current form tends to focus on one market only – wholesales or ancillary services, with aFRR being the main revenue stream. Due to the recent connection to PICASSO in the Netherlands and Belgium, this single-market approach will become less lucrative, driving the need for an updated optimization strategy. As experienced players in this field, enspired and Flexcity understand how to blend revenue stacks, allowing asset owners to monetize their flexibility more effectively, diversify revenues, and maximize profitability. The optimization segment in Belgium, while slightly more developed, gains a competitive new opportunity through Flexcity and enspired, whose highly specialized service spans a disruptive strategy and an extended range of use cases, including standalone and co-located/hybrid grid-scale assets – a valuable addition to both geographical markets.
A strategic partnership built on cross-country market expertise and interaction
enspired handles the commercial optimization across wholesale markets, while Flexcity acts as the BRP (Balancing Responsible Party), BSP (Balancing Service Provider), and CSP (Congestion Service Provider), taking care of ancillary services (including aFRR) and congestion management. Both sides of the setup feature round-the-clock technical support. Flexcity’s acute experience with ancillary services and its local market knowledge are crucial components of the joint optimization service. “We are thrilled to enter two new markets with Flexcity as our partner,” shares Cécilia Masut, who leads enspired’s business development in the region. “Together, we are building a strong framework for flexibility markets that combines the best of two worlds: a deep understanding of the local markets and cutting-edge trading expertise.” To maximize the economic performance of contracted assets, enspired leverages an in-house trading platform with powerful data-based algorithms. The technology is recognized for its pivotal role in pioneering trading automation across Europe, high-speed reactivity to changing market conditions, and flexible adaptation to new market environments.
By combining Flexcity and enspired’s expertises, we continue to ensure optimal revenues for our battery clients - both in ancillary service and intraday markets now and in the future. In addition, electrical flexibility is an important growth booster for Veolia's GreenUp strategic program to produce decarbonizing local energy.
Transparency as key feature of joint optimization offer
Transparency is a defining quality of the offering. At present, customers in Belgium and the Netherlands are not always privy to insights about the commercial performance of their battery assets. enspired and Flexcity’s solution shares the optimization strategy with asset owners and gives them 24/7 access to a live trading dashboard with a view on all revenues, including virtual cycling activities.“Transparency is key to providing battery owners with the highest value and upside potential, and enspired’s digital infrastructure does this quite remarkably,” says Arnout Aertgeerts. “At Flexcity, we believe every battery owner deserves a transparent setup, but existing marketing approaches do not prioritize transparency, so it will be a real game-changer for asset owners in our area. There is a huge demand for cross-market battery optimization, and thanks to our combined extensive know-how in this field, we have the best foundation to replicate the successes enspired achieved in its core market Germany.”
Debut project to be deployed in the Netherlands
The first project benefitting from the joint optimization offer is currently in development in the Netherlands and will be operational in January 2025. “Expanding to new markets is an important part of our growth trajectory,” explains enspired CEO and Co-founder Jürgen Mayerhofer. “Client interest in the area was immediate, and we could not have asked for a more competent and trusted local partner. After signing the first contracts in the Netherlands, doors are also opening in Belgium, and we are so excited to drive innovation together with Flexcity to make a lasting impact on energy efficiency and sustainability.” Arnout Aertgeerts adds: “In Belgium, many companies are really interested in batteries and eager for new solutions. But it’s not just a question of buying and installing a battery where one can find a grid connection. The real challenge is to select and trust a partner to optimize this battery and unlock its full potential to strengthen energy sovereignty.”
About enspired
enspired is a pioneer for the commercial optimization of batteries and other power assets across the wholesale, control reserve, and ancillary service markets. The company’s fully automated in-house trading platform is the fastest on the European short-term power market and enables customers to monetize the full potential of their flexibility with minimum time-to-market. Maximum profitability is achieved through technologically advanced, data-driven, and AI-powered trading strategies.
About Flexcity
Part of the Veolia Group, Flexcity is a leading provider of flexibility solutions in multiple European markets, operating 3 GW of flexible power. It empowers companies to profit from the energy transition by adapting their energy use – every second of the day. As an aggregator of flexibility, Flexcity optimizes the processes of energy systems and creates new revenue streams while supporting the power grid, all while being mindful of the installation specificities.
About Veolia
Veolia's ambition is to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with nearly 218,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful and concrete solutions for water, waste and energy management that help to radically change the game. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia contributes to developing access to resources, preserving available resources and renewing them. In 2023, the Veolia group served 113 million people with drinking water and 103 million with wastewater services, produced 42 terawatt-hours of energy and recovered 63 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) generated consolidated sales of 45.3 billion euros in 2023.
Media contacts
For Flexcity: [email protected]
For enspired: [email protected]
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