Senior Energy Market Expert - Flexibility

Function

Elia plays a leading role in developing electricity markets, furthering access to these and establishing ancillary services, thereby ensuring grid security, efficiency and reliability. Within the Market - Grid and Offshore concepts department, the Belgian System Concepts team is responsible for developing market mechanisms and flexibility-based solutions to cope with grid constraints such as congestion and voltage control.

 

To meet the ambitious decarbonisation objectives the energy transition implies a massive integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and the electrification of industrial processes, which lead to increasing needs for flexibility in the system. For years now, Elia is being at the forefront of market design evolutions aiming at facilitating the participation of all resources such as decentral flexibility, including at residential level to electricity markets and balancing markets.

In addition, in order to integrate and connect the renewable energy sources and to allow electrification of load, Elia must develop on time, a robust and fit-for-purpose power grid in Belgium striving for a techno-economical optimum for society. To reach this optimum Elia aims at proposing the appropriate ratio of grid-reinforcements combined with the usage of innovative flexibility solutions.

 

To do so, Elia is developing a vision to integrate flexibility in the system coming from all types of technologies at all voltage levels that will allow to reach this optimum. This vision will imply evolutions in market design as well as the development of new flexibility products and improvements of existing ones. Our team is responsible for examining the challenges and proposing and implementing innovative solutions in the coming months and years.

 

As Energy Market Expert, you develop Elia's vision in terms of market design, product and contract development and participate to the implementation of this vision. You study market mechanisms, participate in or lead product development projects and engage with stakeholders (e.g. public authorities, regulators, distribution system operators (DSOs), market players).

Some of the team's tasks are set out below. Based on your strengths and experience, you will be asked to take on a number of these tasks, providing you with a diverse, yet coherent, set of responsibilities.

• Identify, analyse and define how market mechanisms and ancillary services need to evolve taking into account all relevant aspects (e.g. regulatory frameworks, budgets and tariffs, technical and operational impact). Translate those design evolutions into a sound and clear design document.
• Regularly consult and collaborate with DSOs to integrate sources of flexibility located in their systems.
• Regularly communicate with the Belgian regulators, and the stakeholders.  To this extend, prepare, present Elia’s proposals and support external meetings 
• Be able to interpret relevant regulation (ongoing and evolutions of European, Belgian federal and regional frameworks) and analyse the coherency of our proposed design with it in collaboration internal experts
• You actively contribute to the drafting of legislative texts.
• Roll out (parts of) projects by serving as project manager or expert in relevant aspects (e.g. market model, operational impact, contractual and legal amendments, IT developments).

Your Profile

• You hold a university degree in civil engineering or business engineering (Master’s or PhD).
• You have 5 to 10 years of experience in the energy sector, and a solid understanding of how electricity markets and systems operate. This means you can quickly identify and interpret potential barriers. Familiarity with topics such as congestion management, ancillary services, and the roles and responsibilities of BRPs, BSPs, and FSPs is a strong asset.
• Ideally (but not a deal-breaker), you have experience working with Belgian DSOs, either currently or in the past, and have already interacted with them.
• Thanks to your strong stakeholder management skills, you know how to build and maintain constructive relationships with strategic partners, effectively aligning their interests and expectations with the objectives of our organization.
• You have a solid knowledge of European Network Codes and understand their impact on the Belgian energy market. You know how to translate these regulations into operational and strategic implications.
• You possess excellent communication skills (both oral and written), enabling you to draft design notes, regulatory texts, and contractual documents.
• Fluency in either Dutch or French (spoken and written) is essential. You also have a good command of the other language, as well as English.
• You are capable of co