Distribution network operator Electricity North West (ENW) has opened a £12 million tender for 870MW of flexibility services.
The procurement covers 44 eligible locations in the North West. ENW’s tender introduces low voltage (LV) service opportunities alongside the usual high voltage (HV) and extra high voltage (EHV) services. The tender, which could offer revenue over £12 million for participating flexibility service providers (FSPs), marks an important step towards broadening participation from residential flexibility and energy efficiency providers.
Ben Grunfeld, strategy and growth director at Electricity North West, explained that the LV flexibility requirements open “new avenues for smaller providers to participate” and capture “the wider benefits associated with flexibility from households and small and medium enterprises”.
New LV requirements can be met through two flexibility products, peak reduction and scheduled utilisation, designed to promote innovation and encourage residential and small-scale provider involvement. The tender is being hosted on the ElectronConnect and Piclo Max platforms.
Electron’s platform is also used by SSEN distribution after a three-year partnership was signed in May. Meanwhile, Piclo has previously partnered with National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) to facilitate FSPs to trade into NGED’s flexibility markets more easily.
Expanding flexibility markets
As flexible electricity use becomes ever more critical to the grid’s ability to handle the UK’s energy transition, flexibility markets are expanding to incentivise participation.
Yesterday (11 November), Elexon implemented a rule change that allows independent aggregators of electricity to register to participate in the wholesale electricity market. Previously, electricity consumers were unable to obtain value from their flexibility in the wholesale energy market unless they worked with their supplier to do so because the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) assigned all flexibility delivered by a customer to their supplier.
Chief executive at Elexon, which is owned by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and oversees implementation of the BSC, Peter Stanley pointed out: “The National Energy System Operator’s latest analysis shows scenarios where GB would have around four times as much flexibility by 2030 compared with what was available in 2023.
“To reach that potential, we must create more opportunities for consumers to provide flexibility services. Reforms such as P415 can have a major impact, overcoming barriers to flexibility, and driving growth.”
The BSC code modification P415 ‘Facilitating access to wholesale markets for flexibility dispatched by Virtual Lead Parties’ means independent aggregators will be able to compete in the wholesale market against suppliers as a Virtual Lead Party (VPL).
