Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.
Standard, traditional electricity tariffs consist of two components: a fixed basic charge (the cost of the meter) stated in euros per year, and a fixed unit price, calculated in cents per kWh.In contrast to standard electricity tariffs, the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for dynamic electricity tariffs is variable; they do not have a fixed unit price. With these tariffs, the price per kWh changes throughout the day – depending on prices on the electricity exchange.
The aim is to create incentives for private households to shift their consumption to times when, for example, there is a plentiful supply of renewable, cheaper electricity. The lower prices of renewable energy from solar and wind power plants are thus passed on to consumers more quickly.
Dynamic electricity tariffs are particularly of interest to households that operate a PV system, an energy management system, as well as battery storage or a heat pump. To use dynamic tariffs, a smart metering system – a smart meter – is required.
You can monitor your personal energy data management via a small mini-computer such as a Raspberry Pi (a mini-computer running Linux). This runs Node-Red (a graphical programming environment). The mini-computer retrieves data from the smart meter and the inverter, visualises it and then controls the devices (sockets, etc.).
From 2025, all electricity suppliers must offer dynamic electricity tariffs to users of smart metering systems. However, such a tariff can only be financially viable if there is significant potential for load shifting – for example, in households with a heat pump or an electric car charging point. But even in these cases, a dynamic tariff may not necessarily be the cheapest option. In any event, consumers bear the full price risk, and price increases on the electricity exchange are passed on immediately.
Using established methods of electricity storage when electricity prices are low
– Tenants with Bkw can use the electricity storage provided by their balcony solar panel system to temporarily store unused electricity for times when little or no electricity is being generated.
– Another way to utilise surplus low-cost electricity is through battery storage in electric cars and by adjusting the operation of heat pumps in line with electricity prices. To this end, cost-saving heat pump electricity tariffs should be offered. In a study commissioned by Green Planet Energy, analysts from the consultancy Enervis show that adjusting the output of heat pumps and charging stations to the current volume of green electricity on the grid saves a great deal of money and reduces emissions. In return, users of such systems benefit from reductions in grid charges
– Electricity peaks can increasingly be absorbed by households with smart meters
(digital electricity meters) by switching on as many electrical appliances as possible (washing machines, tumble dryers, chargers) at times when electricity is cheapest.
– Storing surplus electricity in large-scale battery storage systems and intelligent grid control with managed consumption in industry (example at the ICE plant in Leipzig according to the LZ of 23 May 2025:https://www.l-iz.de/wirtschaft/wirtschaft-leipzig/2025/05/neuartiges-energiekonzept-im-ice-werkleipzig-gebrauchte-e-auto-batterien-batteriespeicher-625016.
– Battery storage systems can bridge short-term shortages, but currently
cannot cope with periods of low wind and low sunlight lasting several days; therefore, the expansion of large-scale battery storage is essential.
– In this context, increased research into sodium-ion batteries or other storage options is required in order to reduce the use of lead-acid batteries and to cut the demand for raw materials for lithium-ion batteries, as well as to minimise the problems associated with their manufacture.
Through intelligent control and the expansion of electricity storage capacity, the costs of curtailing renewable energy plants (redispatch costs) can be reduced, which in turn lowers grid charges. All electricity consumers will then benefit from these lower grid charges.
Redispatch costs
Redispatch costs are financial expenses incurred when grid operators intervene in electricity generation to stabilise the grid and prevent congestion. These costs arise mainly from compensation paid to renewable energy plants that have been curtailed and the expensive deployment of conventional reserve power stations.
The total costs of so-called congestion management in Germany run into the billions and are ultimately passed on to all consumers via their electricity bills through grid charges.
Redispatch measures – and consequently grid charges – can be reduced by storing surplus electricity (expansion of large-scale battery storage, production of hydrogen (H) from renewable energy sources via electrolysers, utilising the potential of pumped-storage power stations (PSW), or storing hot water generated from renewable energy sources in caverns; using iron or iron filings as energy storage media; thermal energy storage using salt (molten salt), etc., rather than, as Economy Minister Reiche put it, ‘simply throwing away’ the surplus electricity.
Energy transition, part two: Obstacles to the direct sale of self-generated electricity
Empfohlen auf LZ
So können Sie die Berichterstattung der Leipziger Zeitung unterstützen:
There is one comment