Dynamic energy tariffs in real estate portfolios: why manual control costs you up to 30% more

The energy bill of a real estate portfolio is no longer a fixed number. EPEX prices shift every quarter-hour, capacity tariffs rise annually, and the cost of a kilowatt-hour changes literally every fifteen minutes. Yet most portfolio managers still run their solar panels, batteries and chargers on fixed schedules. That gap between the market and the way it is managed costs more than most portfolio managers realise.

The Dutch energy market now moves in quarter-hour intervals. Most real estate portfolios respond weekly, or not at all.

• EPEX day-ahead prices on a single day swing from negative to above €172/MWh. Anyone running a fixed schedule is structurally buying at the wrong moments.
• Since October 2025, EPEX operates on quarter-hour pricing. That is 96 decision moments per day, per site. No person can track that across six sites, let alone twenty-five.
• At Montea, the switch to EPEX-integrated energy management delivered measurable cost reductions. The company is expanding from 6 to 25 optimised sites.
• Grid operators are investing roughly €8 billion per year through 2030. Those costs are passed on through rising capacity tariffs, directly linked to your peak demand.

Portfolio managers who do not automate their energy control are paying top price in a market that rewards those who move fast.

Dynamic energy tariffs are the new reality for real estate

Until a few years ago, the energy bill was predictable. Fixed contract, fixed price, fixed cost per square metre. That world no longer exists. Three shifts have changed the rules.

The EPEX day-ahead market

The wholesale market where electricity prices for the following day are set. Since 1 October 2025, it operates across the EU on quarter-hour pricing. That means 96 price points per day.

The spreads are enormous. In May, the cheapest quarter-hour sat around €0/MWh thanks to solar surplus. The most expensive quarter-hour in February exceeded €172/MWh. In 2024 the Dutch day-ahead market recorded 458 negative hours, and that number is expected to triple by 2026.

Rising capacity tariffs

Grid operators such as Liander, Enexis and Stedin charge large consumers based on their highest quarter-hour peak per month. One uncontrolled peak moment sets your tariff for 30 days.

Liander raised grid tariffs for commercial customers in 2026 by 3 to 6 per cent, on top of 10 per cent in 2025 and 20 per cent in 2024. Through 2030, grid operators are investing roughly €8 billion per year in grid reinforcement. Those costs are passed on through the tariffs.

The Flemish tariff reform

Since 2023, consumers in Flanders also pay a capacity tariff based on their quarter-hour peak. For portfolio managers with sites on both sides of the border, such as Montea, that means double exposure.

Where the 30% comes from

The claim that manual control costs up to 30 per cent more is not a marketing line. It is a sum of three sources of missed value.

Missed EPEX spreads

On an average day, the gap between the most expensive and cheapest quarter-hour exceeds €50/MWh. On more extreme days it tops €150/MWh. A battery on a fixed schedule misses the bulk of that spread. A system that optimises every five minutes shifts consumption to the cheapest quarter-hours and discharges at the most expensive moments. Difference on variable costs: 15 to 20 per cent.

Unnecessary peak tariffs

One afternoon when all chargers run at full load while the HVAC is at maximum pushes your capacity tariff up for a month. Manual schedules cannot prevent that coincidence. Automated peak shaving can. At the Enexis site in Best, that delivered 45 per cent lower energy costs. Even a modest improvement saves 5 to 10 per cent on the grid component.

Wasted self-generation

Solar panels produce most around midday, precisely when the EPEX price is at its lowest. Without control, that surplus goes to the grid at rock-bottom or negative tariffs. An automated system routes it to the battery, charges EVs with it, or shifts flexible consumption. The value of self-generated energy can be tens of percentage points higher as a result.

Add the three sources together: a conservative 20 to 30 per cent difference in total energy costs. At portfolio level, that adds up to six-figure sums per year.

What “manual control” looks like in practice

Manual control sounds as though someone is sitting at a switchboard. In practice, it is subtler.

The battery charges on a timer set by the installer. The chargers all start at the same time, typically in the evening. The HVAC runs on seasonal schedules. The facility manager adjusts things a few times a year.

Each asset works fine on its own. The problem: they do not work together. The battery does not know the chargers are about to kick in. The HVAC does not know the solar panels are producing a peak. The result is a sum of locally logical decisions that are collectively suboptimal.

Multiply that by 25 sites across different countries, each with its own grid operator and tariff structure. That is 96 quarter-hour prices times 25 sites times five assets: 12,000 decision moments per day. No spreadsheet solves that.

How Montea tackles this

Montea is a Belgian publicly listed real estate company (GVV/SIR) specialising in logistics real estate across four countries. Portfolio value: €2.3 billion, more than 2 million square metres. Included in the BEL ESG Index by Euronext in 2023.

Across six sites, Tibo Energy’s EMS integrates solar panels, multiple battery systems and energy-intensive distribution centres into a single control system. At its core: dynamic market optimisation via EPEX pricing. The system buys cheaply, stores when it pays off, and relieves the grid at peak tariff moments. In Belgium, it simultaneously meets Fluvius frequency control requirements.

The result: measurable cost reductions, maximum use of self-generated energy, and a system that scales. Montea is currently expanding from six to twenty-five optimised sites in the Netherlands. That expansion is only feasible because the EMS adapts to each location without requiring a new control plan per site.

Taking back control with Tibo EMS

Tibo EMS controls solar panels, batteries, chargers and HVAC as one coordinated system, across a single site or an entire multi-site portfolio. Alice, our AI algorithm, recalculates a 48-hour control schedule every five minutes based on EPEX prices, weather data and connection limits. Hardware-agnostic, integrated with existing building management systems. At energy-intensive sites: up to 60 per cent lower energy costs and up to 50 per cent less CO2.

Want to know what this delivers for your portfolio?

Request a simulation. We run the numbers on your own energy data and show you how much you save, which peaks you avoid and how quickly the investment pays back.