The call comes as the Project launches its latest consultation on flexibility services, which will look at how energy network operators across the country can help Britain’s homes, businesses and communities realise the benefits of a smarter, more flexible energy system. That system could help the UK save up to £8bn a year by 2030, National Infrastructure Commission research shows - all whilst helping power it towards its 2050 Net Zero carbon emissions target.
Flexibility service markets, which use smart energy technologies in homes, businesses and communities to provide services back to electricity grid operators, are increasingly being used as a way of increasing the capacity of energy network infrastructure. These markets allow operators to connect more clean energy infrastructure, such as renewable energy projects or electric vehicle charge points, to the grid more quickly.
The consultation follows ENA recently launching the Flexibility Commitment: Our Six Steps for Delivering Flexibility Services. It seeks views on further detail on how the six steps in the Flexibility Commitment can be developed further, diving into the detail of the principles that will enable flexibility markets, good practice for procurement and our approach to standardising contracts for flexibility.
The principles include:
- Neutral market facilitation
- Market boundaries
- Transparency, visibility and privacy
- Rights and obligations
- Interoperability of solutions and
- Coordination and information exchange
David Smith, Chief Executive at Energy Networks Association says:
“Today’s consultation makes a fundamental point about the way in which we need to build a smarter, more flexible energy system – simpler is better. Ease of access to flexibility markets for the widest possible range of people has to be right at the top of the agenda.
“That’s key so that Britain’s energy networks can access the deepest, most liquid flexibility markets possible to help connect more clean energy technologies to the grid at the lowest possible cost to the public, all whilst creating an environment that fosters the kind of smart energy innovation that Britain has become known for the world over.”
The consultation will also focus on end-to-end processes when procuring flexibility services, as well as DSO Services Commercial Arrangements. These processes will look across all DNOs and all licence areas to find the simplest way for customers to contract for flexibility. This work will continue into 2020, but networks are always looking to break down barriers to accessing markets, and are implementing short term changes, as well as thinking long term about the roles and responsibilities of Britain’s Distribution Network Operators.
These products, combined with the recently released Six Steps for Delivering Flexibility Services commitment, will offer a clear and uniform customer journey that is open and transparent, building an Internet of Energy that involves everyone.
Notes to editor
- Energy Networks Association represents the companies responsible for operating the ‘wires and pipes’ of Britain’s energy network infrastructure.
- The Open Networks Project brings together electricity transmission and distribution network companies with industry stakeholders, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the energy regulator Ofgem, to lay the foundations for the smart grid in Great Britain and inform future developments Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
- The consultation document can be found online here.
- Examples of flexibility services include:
- Households charging their electric vehicles at off-peak times or when it is sunniest, whilst other households’ domestic solar panels are generating electricity.
- Businesses striking demand-side response agreements to adjust their electricity use at the times of day when they least need it, helping reduce the need and cost of building new infrastructure.
- Using battery storage to help network operators proactively manage a rapidly changing electricity grid where electricity now flows in many different directions, rather than in just one as it has done in the past.
- ENA and its members recently launched a new commitment to support flexibility services. The full text of the Flexibility Commitment: Our Six Steps for Delivering Flexibility Services is attached. The steps adopted will be fundamental in defining how the public, businesses and networks interact in the future by:
- Championing a level playing field;
- Ensuring visibility and accessibility;
- Conducting procurement in an open and transparent manner;
- Providing clarity on the dispatch of services;
- Providing regular, consistent and transparent reporting;
- Working together towards whole energy system outcomes.
- As a world leader in clean energy, this Commitment builds on the work of ENA’s Open Networks Project, where the long-term roles and responsibilities of Britain’s local electricity networks are being redefined as new competitive markets for flexibility open up. ENA and its member electricity organisations has worked extensively and inclusively with stakeholders, sharing our flexibility developments and listening to wide reaching feedback at every step to arrive at these commitments.
- The National Infrastructure Commission’s report on Smart Power can be found online here.
About us
Energy Networks Association (ENA) is the industry body representing the energy networks. Our members include every major electricity network operator in the UK. The electricity networks are at the heart of the energy transition. They directly employ more than 26,000 people in the UK, including 1,500 apprentices. They are spending and investing £33bn in our electricity grids over the coming years, to ensure safe, reliable and secure energy supplies for the millions of homes and businesses reliant on power every day.
Press office contact
Our press office can assist with enquiries from journalists and content creators only. You can email press@energynetworks.org. Please note, if your enquiry is urgent or requires a response out of normal working hours you should call us on 0204 599 7691.