Summary
Grid connections rarely deliver the full power a CPO has actually contracted for. Ask a distribution grid operator for enough capacity to run ten fast chargers at rated power, and the answer is almost always less than what's on paper — and reinforcing a grid connection takes years and billions of euros, while integrating a battery takes months. That mismatch in timelines is why co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) are quickly moving from a nice-to-have to a near-default requirement for serious EV charging infrastructure.
In this episode, Christophe Lephilibert sits down with Michel Verschuere, founder and managing director of Yuso, a Belgian balance service provider (BSP) that has grown into a major flexibility player across Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Baltic states. A physicist by training who has been trading electricity since 2003, Michel built Yuso in 2012 around the idea that batteries and other flexible assets should actively participate in the energy market, not just sit idle as backup. Today Yuso manages roughly 500 megawatts of grid-scale flexibility — and an increasing share of that flexibility now sits behind EV chargers.
The conversation covers why the EV charging industry's usual playbook for flexibility revenue doesn't fully apply to charging sites, why the "duck curve" utilities have talked about for years is turning into a "canyon curve" in solar-heavy markets, and what's actually driving reliable value for charge point operators (CPOs) today. Michel also walks through a live, named example of how this works in practice: a three-way partnership between FLEXECHARGE, Yuso, and battery hardware provider Intercell, deployed on a real Q8 Electric site in Belgium - with FLEXECHARGE named as one of Yuso's own certified energy management system (EMS) partners.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
- Why grid congestion, not charger hardware cost, is the real reason co-located BESS is becoming essential for CPOs, and why grid reinforcement timelines make batteries the faster path to more usable capacity
- What the "duck curve" is, why growing solar penetration is turning it into a "canyon curve" in markets like California, and what that means for when a CPO's battery should charge and discharge
- Why classic ancillary services like FCR and aFRR are often a poor fit for CPO sites specifically — they're contracted directly with transmission system operators (TSOs) and priced in kilowatts, the exact resource a charging site can least afford to commit away from serving drivers
- Where real, reliable flexibility value exists today for charge point operators: peak shaving against grid connection limits, day-ahead price optimization, and capturing swings in the imbalance market (Belgium has recorded imbalance prices as extreme as -15,000 EUR/MWh)
- Why "full-stack" flexibility revenue pitches are, in Michel's words, usually "over-promised and under-delivered"
- How a real three-way partner stack actually operates on a live site: FLEXECHARGE as the energy management system, Yuso as the balance service provider reading the market, and Intercell supplying the battery hardware
- What Michel recommends any CPO check first before trying to monetize a battery: whether it can realistically close the site's kilowatt gap, correct sizing, and choosing the right combination of partners
Notable Quotes
"Three-letter abbreviations do not lower an invoice. The actual EUR delta does."
"We have our own internal certification scheme, and this is why FLEXeCHARGE is one of the certified partners on our website." — Michel Verschuere
About the Guest
Michel Verschuere is the founder and managing director of Yuso, a Belgian balance service provider and energy flexibility company he launched in 2012. A physicist by background, Michel has been active in European electricity trading since 2003. Yuso today manages approximately 500 megawatts of grid-scale flexibility across Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Baltic states.
Connect with Michel: linkedin.com/in/michel-verschuere-28abb56
Learn more about Yuso: yuso.com/nl
Related listening: for more on CPOs integrating battery storage at scale, check out our earlier conversation with Q8 Electric and Intercell on deploying co-located BESS across Benelux fast-charging sites.
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