How Smart Energy Management Helps You Stay Ahead of Hitzeflaute

As Europe experiences more frequent heatwaves, a new term is entering the energy conversation: Hitzeflaute.

A Hitzeflaute occurs when high temperatures coincide with very little wind. While solar panels continue to generate electricity, reduced wind production and increased demand for cooling can put pressure on the grid and drive up electricity prices.

For businesses and households alike, this can mean greater energy price volatility. The good news? Smart energy management and battery storage can help you stay in control.

Why Hitzeflaute affects energy prices

When wind generation drops and electricity demand rises, balancing supply and demand becomes more challenging. This is often reflected in electricity markets such as EPEX Spot, where prices can fluctuate significantly throughout the day.

For organisations with dynamic energy contracts, these price spikes can have a direct impact on energy costs. That's why flexibility is becoming increasingly valuable.

Capture, store and use energy intelligently

Our Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) helps you take control of your energy strategy by storing energy when it is abundant or inexpensive and using it when demand or prices increase.

Instead of reacting to market conditions, you can actively optimise when and how energy is consumed.

Three ways a BESS helps during a Hitzeflaute

1. Peak shaving: BESS can discharge stored energy during periods of high demand, reducing consumption peaks and helping lower grid capacity fees. By smoothing out energy spikes, businesses can avoid unnecessary costs while reducing strain on their electrical infrastructure.

2. Solar optimisation: Hot summer days often generate large amounts of solar energy. Instead of exporting excess production to the grid, a battery allows you to store that energy and use it later when production drops or demand increases. This increases self-consumption, reduces dependence on external supply and helps maximise the value of your solar installation.

3. Market optimisation: Electricity prices on EPEX Spot can change considerably throughout the day. A BESS allows you to store energy when prices are lower and use it when prices rise, helping you get more value from a dynamic energy contract.

Why storage alone is not enough

Responding to volatile energy prices starts with understanding how energy is used across your site.

Smappee Infinity gives you complete visibility into your energy environment, from the main grid connection down to individual loads and assets. With real-time insights, you can identify inefficiencies, reduce unnecessary peaks, increase self-consumption and make smarter energy decisions.

Combined with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), this visibility becomes even more powerful. While the battery provides flexibility, Smappee Infinity helps ensure energy is used, stored and managed in the most efficient way possible.

Putting it into practice at Smappee HQ

At our Snowball headquarters, we're already showing how intelligent energy management and battery storage can work together in real-world conditions.

By combining our Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with Genius Flex, the intelligence layer behind our energy ecosystem, we're able to automatically respond to changing energy conditions. Genius Flex continuously coordinates energy flows across the site, helping decide when energy should be stored, used or deployed.

During periods of market volatility, such as a Hitzeflaute, this allows our site to reduce its exposure to price spikes while making better use of available energy. When demand on the grid is high, stored energy can even be deployed to help support grid stability.

Preparing for a more dynamic energy future

Hitzeflaute is a reminder that energy markets are becoming increasingly dynamic. As weather patterns continue to influence electricity production and pricing, flexibility will become one of the most valuable assets for energy users.

By combining smart energy management with battery storage, organisations can reduce their exposure to price volatility, optimise energy use and stay in control, even when temperatures rise and the wind stops blowing.