Curtailment
Smart production limitation for a stable energy system
We are in the midst of an energy transition. More and more roofs are disappearing under solar panels, windmills are running like crazy, companies are investing massively in the production of renewable electricity. Fantastic, right?
Absolutely. But as with any major change, new challenges crop up along the way. For example, too much simultaneous renewable energy production leads to negative power prices or, in the most extreme cases, even an unstable power grid. Fortunately, there are solutions. One of them is curtailment.
What is curtailment?
Curtailment is an English word that literally means “containment” or “limitation. In the context of energy, it implies the deliberate temporary curtailment of power production. Consider, for example, turning off a solar installation or shutting down a wind turbine.
Companies have these installations installed to reduce their energy bills. The more of your own power, the more you can consume and the less you have to buy. So why then slow down your own generation? Especially when you’re used to being reimbursed for every kilowatt hour produced.
Because there is also such a thing as too much electricity. With too little demand and an oversupply, it only costs money to inject your power. Then you better shut down your power production, temporarily or partially or not.
The growing importance of curtailment
Our power grid was designed with the production of a limited number of large power plants in mind. Those provided a predictable flow of energy. Today we are in a completely new situation. Renewable energy comes from thousands of decentralized sources such as solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. On top of that, a lot of older installations were installed with the idea “generate = make money. Today, the system requires more nuance.
This also makes the revenue model much less stable. On a sunny day with lots of wind, production peaks. If demand just then is relatively low, the power has nowhere to go. At such times, energy suppliers would rather not have you put even more electricity on the grid. They even charge negative energy prices. In 2024, we already counted more than 400 such hours in Belgium. A clear signal that the balance is getting lost.
This is how curtailment helps with net balancing
To contain this phenomenon of grid congestion, one of the possible solutions is curtailment. You temporarily limit your production, so you don’t have to pay to inject your energy, and the supply of renewable energy immediately drops as well.
Curtailment therefore occurs mainly during times of overproduction (for example, on sunny afternoons or when the wind is full) or in regions where the grid is already vulnerable to congestion.
Curtailment in practice with Bnewable
Bnewable has accumulated years of expertise in energy storage and energy management. For us, curtailment is not a simple “on/off” switch. On the contrary: our smart energy management system Voltana continuously monitors market prices, the status of your battery, the state of the grid, your own production and your own consumption. Based on this data, it automatically makes decisions about curtailment, helps with peak smoothing or stores excess solar power.
For example, is your company battery full and threatening a price spike downward? Then Voltana temporarily switches back production. Does injection pay off again? Then Voltana automatically trades your power. In this way, curtailment does not become a loss item, but a strategy to optimise your installation both economically and ecologically.
There is more than just curtailment
Curtailment is fast, flexible and in many cases more efficient than costly grid extensions. There are also many grid balancing solutions. These are some other ways to de-balance the grid:
- Storing energy in a company battery or battery farm for later use or sale
- Smart consumption planning, e.g. running machines when power is plentiful
- Convert available energy into other forms, such as heat or hydrogen
Curtailment, the smart link in your energy story
The more we commit to renewable energy, the more important curtailment becomes. Not as a problem, but as smart adjustment in a system that is more complex than ever before.
Invest in technology that intelligently controls your energy production. That way you help the grid and keep a grip on your returns.
Wondering how curtailment helps your business? Contact us and we’ll review your situation on-site for a customized solution.
