Effects of Industrial Energy Flexibility Measures on Corporate Sustainability Reporting KPIs
摘要
To meet Europe’s climate change targets, power plants based on fossil energies are being replaced by renewable energy sources, leading to volatility in electricity supply and prices. Current research emphasizes on demand-side management strategies to align industrial energy consumption with renewable power generation. The industrial sector, responsible for a significant share of the overall power use, offers a considerable potential for flexibility. Simultaneously, the European Union (EU) intensifies corporate sustainability reporting requirements with regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which mandates comprehensive sustainability disclosures aligned with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Despite these developments, there is a lack of studies exploring the relation between industrial energy flexibility measures (EFMs) and corporate environmental sustainability performance under these new regulations. This study aims at addressing this gap by developing a method to evaluate the impact of EFMs on environmental key performance indicators (KPIs). The approach involves identifying relevant EFMs and categorizing them according to their qualitative impact on energy consumption. Furthermore, the effects of the EFMs on relevant KPIs from the EU regulations are investigated. By linking energy flexibility strategies with environmental performance metrics, this research seeks to provide valuable insights for industries into how EFMs affect relevant CSRD KPIs.