Flaire – Fair, flexible and socially resilient energy systems

Flaire increases the understanding of demand side management (DSM) solutions and their potential in improving the conditions for expanding weather-dependent renewable energy production and thereby decarbonizing the Finnish energy system. DSM refers to a wide range of actions which can be taken at the customer side of the electricity market to reduce the overall energy consumption and to adjust energy consumption in response to peak period network congestion or high electricity prices.

Flaire will evaluate the feasibility and fairness of DSM solutions from the end-user perspective, with a special attention to vulnerable households. Flaire will use modelling to assess the system-wide impacts of DSM solutions on the multidimensional resilience of the wider socio-technical energy system.

In order to mainstream DSM, the project will increase understanding of the factors that hinder or enable market upscaling of DSM solutions and develop transition pathways for accelerating large-scale deployment of DSM solutions by households and local governments. A focal point of the research is real-life experimentation with diverse DSM solutions, covering both automated and information-based DSM solutions as well as virtual power plants in publicly owned buildings.