The ongoing electrification and integration of renewable energy sources in Denmark's distribution grids pose significant operational challenges, including insufficient reserve capacity, component degradation due to overload, voltage instability, and increasing infrastructure investment requirements. This article argues that implicit demand-side flexibility (DSF) incentivized through dynamic tariffs offers the most scalable and cost-effective approach to address these challenges in a modern distribution network. We demonstrate that while explicit flexibility mechanisms provide operational certainty, they cannot scale to address system-wide congestion across heterogeneous customer bases. Drawing on empirical consumption data showing strong price-responsive behavior, varying prices due to, e.g., regulatory frameworks including the Danish Market Model 3.0 and Tariff Model 3.0, and economic analysis, we demonstrate potential grid savings of 13--48 million DKK per constrained substation through deferred or avoided reinforcement. We argue that implicit DSF mechanisms represent the necessary pathway for revenue-neutral scalable flexibility solutions that can defer costly grid reinforcements while maintaining system reliability. Beyond direct grid savings, additional value streams include avoided peak generation costs, reduced connection delays, and lower outage risk, further strengthening the economic case. Critically, dynamic tariffs offer the mechanism through which real-time grid constraints can be communicated to consumers, enabling price signals that accurately reflect the actual state of the capacity of the distribution network at any given point in time and space.

翻译：持续的电气化进程及可再生能源并网给丹麦配电网带来严峻运行挑战，包括备用容量不足、过载导致的设备老化、电压失稳及持续攀升的基础设施投资需求。本文论证了通过动态电价激励的隐含型需求侧灵活性（DSF）是应对现代配电网上述挑战最具可扩展性与成本效益的解决方案。研究表明，显性灵活性机制虽能提供运行确定性，但无法在异构用户群体中规模化解决系统级阻塞问题。基于实证消费数据（其显示出显著的价敏响应行为）与监管框架（如丹麦市场模型3.0及电价模型3.0）导致的电价波动，结合经济分析，我们证实通过延缓或规避电网改造，每个受限变电站可节省1300万至4800万丹麦克朗的电网投资。我们主张隐含型DSF机制是实现收入中立型可扩展灵活性解决方案的必要路径，既能延缓成本高昂的电网改造，又可维持系统可靠性。除直接电网成本节约外，其附加价值流还包括规避峰值发电成本、缩短并网延迟及降低停电风险，进一步强化了经济合理性。关键在于，动态电价提供了将实时电网约束传导至用户的机制，使价格信号能精准反映任意时空节点配电网络容量的实际状态。