Reduce your carbon footprint through flexibility in electricity consumption
Ancillary services help industrial companies, data centers and large electricity consumers to reduce their carbon footprint by flexibly adjusting electricity consumption to grid needs without compromising production, safety or quality.
As renewable energy expands across Europe, grid stability has become a traded market service. Etteplan helps asset owners participate in ancillary services securely, profitably and at scale, combining industrial OT expertise with market know-how.
What Are Ancillary Services in Electricity Markets?
Ancillary services are grid balancing services used by national Transmission System Operators (TSOs) to keep the electricity system stable at 50 Hz. Historically, large thermal power plants provided this stability automatically. As they are phased out and replaced by wind and solar power, grid stability must now be purchased from other actors in the market.
TSOs such as Fingrid, Svenska Kraftnät, Energinet and Statnett use ancillary services to:
- Balance electricity supply and demand in real time
- Prevent frequency deviations, instability and outages
- Enable higher penetration of renewable electricity
Ancillary services have existed for years but today they represent a rapidly growing, well‑paid opportunity for flexible electricity consumers, which also has the “side effect” of reducing carbon emissions as the same time.
How Do Companies Benefit from Offering Electricity Flexibility?
Often when renewable electricity is abundant (wind & sun) there is a surplus of electricity in the grid and if unaddressed the net frequency will raise above 50 Hz and therefore:
- Companies are incentivized to increase electricity consumption for certain periods
- The electricity generated is primarily renewable (low CO₂ emissions)
Often when electricity is scarce (low wind & no sun) there is a shortage of electricity in the grid and if unaddressed the net frequency will fall below 50 Hz and therefore:
- Companies are incentivized to reduce or postpone consumption
- Avoids the use of fossil‑fuel based electricity from power plants (high CO₂ emissions)
The result:
- Lower Scope 2 emissions for your company
- Reduced system‑level emissions (here, referred to as Scope 4) for society
- Direct financial compensation for providing the flexibility
Can Your Company Participate in Ancillary Services?
How Ancillary Services Work
- You provide flexible electricity capacity
- TSOs activate flexibility when needed
- You get paid for participation
If your processes can ramp up, ramp down or shift electricity consumption in time and fast, you likely have untapped revenue potential. Most organisations with controllable or buffered electricity usage can participate in ancillary services markets.
Typical flexible assets include:
- Heating, cooling and ventilation systems (HVAC)
- Pumps, compressors and variable‑speed drives
- Batch‑based or time‑shifted production processes
- Water treatment and storage systems
- Battery energy storage, EV charging and hybrid energy assets
What Are the Financial and Sustainability Benefits of Ancillary Services?
How Does Etteplan Help You Participate in Ancillary Services?
Etteplan delivers end‑to‑end ancillary services enablement, from early feasibility assessment to live market participation.
Our structured phase approach:
01.
Clarification of potential
Determine relevance and flexibility potential.
02.
Pre‑study
Analyse energy patterns, assets, and technical gaps.
03.
Enablement
Prepare systems, cybersecurity, and market readiness.
04.
Delivery
Bidding, activation, monitoring, and logging.
05.
Ongoing support
Continuous optimisation and performance tuning.
What we can deliver
- Secure, NIS2‑compliant architecture and gateways
- MES and SCADA integration with no loss of local control
- Cloud‑based control logic for aFRR activation
- Real‑time monitoring and performance reporting
- Support with TSO, eSett and aggregator processes
Results include fast time‑to‑value, secure delivery and minimal operational impact.
Will Ancillary Services Affect Production or Operations?
- We can help you ensure that activations are opt‑in, automatic, and software‑driven
- Production limits and safety constraints always apply
- Full operational control remains with the customer
- Participation can be paused at any time
Built‑in risk management:
- Production risk: Strict guardrails and safety constraints
- Cybersecurity: Hardened, NIS2‑compliant architecture
- Market volatility: Flexible bidding and pricing strategies
Which Industries Benefit Most from Ancillary Services?
Industrial heavy‑load facilities
Data centers
District heating and utility operators
Aggregated commercial real estate portfolios
Renewable and energy storage operators
EV charging infrastructure providers
Discover your company’s potential to reduce emissions and optimize energy use
Understand how your organisation could support grid stability, improve energy efficiency and participate securely in electricity flexibility markets. Speak with Etteplan experts about secure and sustainable ancillary services participation.
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Sales Director