Optimus Energy has partnered with flexibility provider Sympower to enable its customers across Greece to engage in demand response services, adding 230 MW of resources to the balancing market this year. As Greece’s largest green electricity aggregator of renewable energy, Optimus Energy aims to strengthen the electricity grid and accelerate the energy transition through this collaboration.
Optimus Energy is a subsidiary of Heron Energy Group, which is part of the GEK Terna conglomerate. The company has earned the trust of many renewable electricity producers in Greece. Stella Zacharia, Chief Executive Officer of Optimus Energy, emphasized the initiative’s alignment with national and European energy goals, aiming to create new revenue streams for customers without requiring investment costs. The company also plans to expand into standalone battery storage optimization and active management of distributed renewable energy plants.
Demand response allows energy-intensive consumers, particularly in commercial and industrial sectors, to adjust their consumption of flexible, non-critical equipment when requested by the grid operator. This helps stabilize the electricity grid and prevents power outages. The Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) sends signals to manage these adjustments. Participants in demand response are compensated for their availability and activation, contributing to network security while tapping into new revenue sources.
Sympower’s demand response platform optimizes the flexibility of energy-intensive equipment, such as furnaces and rolling mills, reducing their consumption at the grid operator’s request. Meanwhile, Optimus Energy ensures these consumers can effectively participate in the manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) market, maximizing economic benefits by formulating and submitting offers. Companies providing at least 1 MWh per day can expect additional gross revenues of approximately EUR 45,000 per MW of capacity annually.
Heron Energy Group has facilitated Optimus Energy’s participation in Sympower’s advanced demand response platform, and there are plans to onboard more companies to unlock new revenue streams through grid balancing services. Costas Baslis, Chairman of the Board of Optimus Energy and Director of Energy Management at Heron, highlighted the potential economic benefits of this partnership.
Since entering Greece’s balancing markets in June last year, Sympower has developed a demand response portfolio totaling 70 MW of aggregated flexible resources. With this partnership, the combined flexible energy resources available to the grid will approach 300 MW daily. Konstantinos Athanasopoulos, Sympower’s Commercial Director in Greece, noted that this collaboration leverages Optimus Energy’s trading capabilities alongside Sympower’s expertise in demand response, building on their successful experience in the Nordics with Vattenfall.
