Smart energy tariffs are becoming increasingly popular for their flexibility and potential to save costs. Smappee, an award-winning tech company from Kortrijk, is also capitalizing on that market trend by launching a virtual battery. In this service, solar panel owners can stockpile their unused power as a credit that allows them to charge their EV elsewhere.

For its part, Engie, the Belgian energy division of the French multinational of the same name, is developing energy contracts with a ‘happy hour’ service that makes electricity free at certain times.

Negative electricity prices

The sun is currently working overtime, so to speak, in many countries, including Belgium, and this, together with the increased number of solar panels, is causing negative prices on the wholesale electricity market to increase.

For example, where you used to see the phenomenon mainly during weekends with lots of sun and wind and little demand for electricity, such negative electricity prices are also breaking through during the week.

One consequence is that Elia, the transmission system operator of Belgium’s high-voltage grid, still finds it challenging to absorb surpluses in any way of economic value.

Smappee Smiles

Companies are cleverly capitalizing on this and developing remarkable initiatives that should appeal to EV owners. It’s all about a dynamic energy contract where the price you pay for your energy varies every hour of the day—electricity is cheaper when demand is low or supply is high—and you get paid for the excess energy you feed back into the grid.

For example, there is Smappee Smiles, a dynamic energy contract from the West Flemish cleantech company Smappee. This company focuses on intelligent energy management and charging solutions for EVs and is best known for its public (fast) charging stations and home chargers for such cars.

With Smappee Smiles, you store your excess solar power generated at home in a virtual battery. The power you wave in this way can be used cheaply on the road to charge your EV, although it must be done at a Smappee Smartstop charging station of which there are now 15 – and counting – in Belgium. In that case, you pay a reduced rate of €0,29 per kWh instead of the standard rate of €0,69.

Profit of €800

According to Smappee, on average, a family can save up to 800 euros per year using such a dynamic contract with a virtual battery. In this contract, you use your own green power, contributing to lower CO2 emissions. This is based on an injection of 2,000 kWh of excess solar power used entirely for public electric charging.

However, the business newspaper De Tijd rightly questions whether that is a realistic calculation. An average EV driving 12,000 km annually consumes 1,800 to 2,400 kWh yearly. “In that case, you would have to charge almost exclusively publicly at Smappee’s charging station to cash in on the full injection of 2,000 kWh,” De Tijd writes.

Moreover, Smappee also does not consider any costs for power injection. According to the Flemish Regulator of the Electricity and Gas Market (VREG), injection under a dynamic contract yielded an average of 78,5 euros. However, whether that will continue this year remains to be seen.

In any case, dynamic contracts have yet to break through in Flanders. For example, at the end of December, 0,38% of households in Flanders had a dynamic electricity contract, or more precisely, 10,061 households.

Expansion of the ‘happy hour’ offer

Although the number of dynamic energy contracts in Flanders may still be limited, experts expect this type of contract to gain popularity with the rollout of digital meters.

You can see this in the growth of energy suppliers offering dynamic contracts. By 2024, the number of suppliers with such offers doubled from 13 to 33. And after EnergyVision and Energie.be, Engie is now entering the market with ‘happy hour’ contracts, where electricity will be free at certain times of the day when solar energy is overproduced, including for EV charging.

These would be services that will be added to specific contracts. Engie, the largest electricity supplier in Belgium, is expected to provide more details next week.