Solutions & Use Cases
Dynamic Pricing
Electricity prices and grid fees change over the course of a day. Time-of-use tariffs make that change visible to devices – so consumption moves into the hours when energy is cheap and the local grid has capacity, without anyone switching anything by hand.
What is Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing works in two directions. A supplier can pass on electricity market prices, for example from the European Energy Exchange (EEX), so that consumption follows the availability of energy. A distribution system operator (DSO) can use time-variable grid fees to influence the overall consumption and feed-in of buildings before a local overload occurs – a preventive measure rather than an intervention.
The tariff reaches the energy management system (EMS) – the device that implements the Customer Energy Management (CEM) role – either directly, through a gateway or through a cloud service. The EMS translates it into domain-specific incentive tables and offers these to the connected devices.
The devices then plan for themselves. An EV charger or a heat pump calculates its own consumption schedule from its demand and its flexibility, and returns that schedule to the EMS, which keeps the base load of the building and any grid constraints in view. The result is cost-optimised operation of the devices and revenue-optimised PV feed-in.
Price signals remain effective even when the grid is constrained. A power limit sets the outer boundary; the incentive governs how devices use the room that remains.
How it works
The limit travels from the grid to every controllable device – through the gateway at the grid connection point and, where present, the energy management system.
Supplier and DSO
The supplier provides variable tariffs based on electricity market prices, so that consumption follows the availability of energy. The DSO provides dynamic grid fees as a preventive measure against overload, influencing the overall consumption or feed-in of buildings according to the local grid situation
Energy management system
Receives the time-of-use tariff from the DSO or the supplier – directly, via a gateway or via a cloud service – and offers the energy to the controllable devices through domain-specific incentive tables. Devices with their own planning logic, such as EV chargers and heat pumps, select the best price option for their demand and send their consumption plans back.
EV charger and EV
Receive the tariff information from the EMS and choose the price window that fits the energy demand and the departure time. The charging plan goes back to the EMS
Heat pump
Places its heating demand in favourable price windows, within its operating limits, and reports the resulting consumption schedule to the EMS.
Battery storage
The EMS controls the battery inverter according to the tariff information – charging when prices are low and discharging when they are high, within the operating limits of the storage.
Home appliances
Receive a start signal from the EMS when the price is low. The cycle runs in the favourable window, inside the time frame the end user has set.
Why it matters in Germany?
Time-variable grid fees form Module 3 of the rules on grid-oriented control under Section 14a of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG). They add a price-based incentive to grid-oriented control. Direct curtailment remains available to the DSO at all times, regardless of how closely a device follows the price signals. EEBUS transmits both signals – power limits and price incentives – within one standard.
Next Step
Implementing Dynamic Pricing?
From the first prototype to the certified product: the EEBUS Specifications, the EEBUS Tester and EEBUS Certification take you through every step.
