Electricity North West (ENW) is calling for 259MW of flexibility between 2022-24, with over £2 million of incentives available.
This flexibility is required across 37 locations in its region, with requirements greatest in the Lancashire area where nearly 140MW of flexibility is needed. Greater Manchester requires 50MW, while Cumbria needs almost 40MW.
The deadline for registration is 21 January 2022, with potential providers needing to be registered and pre-qualified on the Piclo Flex flexibility platform. Registration is also encouraged for those outside the listed areas, as locations being tendered for change over time.
ENW said that various organisations are able to benefit from providing flexibility, including specialist energy companies, aggregators, farmers, supermarkets, owners of electric vehicle (EV) fleets and non-specialist business looking for extra income.
Indeed, flexibility can be provided by reducing electricity demand at certain times of the day, increasing generation at times of high demand and/or installing energy efficiency measures such as LED lighting or solar panels, which reduce overall demand.
Lois Clark, DSO commercial lead at Electricity North West said the company is continuing to support the north west in reaching zero carbon, and recognises the contribution that flexibility services makes by helping to unlock capacity on the network.
“We are also delighted to have opened our flexibility service tender process to energy efficiency schemes, which we believe have a huge part to play in facilitating this change and help to finance our net zero goals.”
This tender is ENW’s ninth, taking its flexibility requirements to over 750MW across more than 100 areas in the north west.
In May, it joined Flexible Power, a platform designed to make engaging with network flexibility simpler. Flexible Power details the flexibility locations, requirement data, procurement notes and documentation of distribution network operators Western Power Distribution (WPD), SP Energy Networks (SPEN), Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, Northern Powergrid and ENW.
