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Flexibility Services

Flexibility is about changing where or when electricity is consumed or generated. Local flexibility services are a range of existing and developing solutions that electricity system users can provide to help manage congestion in the electricity network and support its efficient use.

A flexibility provider is a user who provides flexibility services by making temporary changes to the way they consume, generate, or store electricity when requested by the electricity networks. This allows the network operators to optimise their capacity, whilst remunerating users for the services provider. 

ENA’s Open Networks programme was instrumental in informing the transition to Distribution System Operation (DSO) and establishing the UK as the world leader in the development of local flexibility markets. Since its establishment in 2017, Open Networks developed the UK’s local flexibility market from the ground up, starting from developing a UK-wide business case and market principles to the formulation of procedures and technical specifications. Driven by the government’s Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan and supported by Ofgem, we worked to make the energy flexibility market easier to take part in, more coordinated, and more transparent.

This web page is intended to be an initial source of information to new and existing flexibility service providers to aid them in participating in the local flexibility market. The figure below illustrates a high-level local flexibility market’s delivery journey noting actions undertaken by the DSO and the Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs). 

Key outputs from the Open Networks programme associated with individual steps are signposted below, and FSPs are encouraged to refer to individual DSOs websites for further information regarding their respective tenders. 

Click here for an accessible version of the graph

 

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