BESSFlex - Building Energy Systems and Storage for Flexible Sector Coupling

BESSFlex advances Flexible Sector Coupling (FSC) between electrical and thermal sectors by leveraging buildings and energy storage systems. It synthesizes the current state of FSC, clarifies the roles of buildings, energy storage, renewable energy, and digitalization through techno-economic analyses, identifying key drivers, barriers, and opportunities.

Background

Europe’s current geopolitical context emphasizes energy independence which has contributed to extreme electricity price volatility due to supply-demand imbalances and the limits of siloed optimization across electrical, thermal, and building sectors. Energy storage enables flexibility and is central to FSC, which improves grid stability, optimizes renewable use, and reduces fossil dependence. District heating and cooling (DHC) and combined heat and power (CHP) already support robust and flexible supply, yet buildings’ roles in system-wide optimization remain underexplored.

Although FSC and buildings are recognized as essential to integrated energy systems, their potential is not fully realized in Sweden or Europe. Buildings are increasingly acting as prosumers and potential energy hubs, however focus has been largely placed on the electrical sector; battery storage, EV charging, and heat pump controls. Siloed optimization, alongside technical, economic, policy, market, and stakeholder challenges, hinders effective FSC deployment. Previous initiatives have addressed energy flexibility or sector coupling partially, often overlooking cross-sectoral, non-technical, or Swedish-specific dimensions.

Digital tools currently optimize subsystems independently, but holistic integration through shared ontologies, interoperable data structures, and generic models remains insufficient. In-depth techno-economic analyses incorporating stakeholder perspectives are missing, as is systematic understanding of how buildings (across residential, public, service, and commercial sectors) can leverage embedded storage and building envelopes to interact dynamically with electrical and thermal networks.

Aim

BESSFlex aims to unlock currently underutilized flexibility in the built environment by positioning buildings as intelligent FSC nodes within electrical and thermal networks that produce, consume, store, and exchange energy. Energy transition and climate goals are supported through increased integration of renewables, energy storage, and digitalization to enable techno-economically viable, holistically optimized energy systems.

Objectives

Identify the current role and unrealized potential of Buildings with Energy Storage and Digitalization, for Flexible Sector Coupling (FSC) of Thermal and Electrical Sectors