British independent flexibility marketplace Piclo is expanding internationally, thanks to a new partnership with Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO), Lithuania’s largest distribution system operator.
The partnership will begin with a strategic project designed to explore flexibility service procurement in Lithuania, with market participants encouraged to register their assets on the company’s software platform Piclo Flex. The project will close on 30 September, following which the company and the ESO will evaluate what the next steps should be.
“We’re all really looking forward to getting started on this project with ESO,” said James Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Piclo.
“It comes at an incredibly important time for Lithuania and Europe more broadly as our energy markets accelerate the shift towards renewables. This transition will require an equally rapid scaling of flexibility markets to open up new opportunities and ensure everyone has access to reliable clean power, and this can only be achieved through greater collaboration and by proactively engaging the market.”
ESO joins a host of system operators in the UK that use Piclo’s platform, including UK Power Networks, SP Energy Networks and Electricity North West.
In 2021, the company secured £4.7 million of investment in a new Series A funding from Mott MacDonald Ventures and the Clean Growth Fund to continue its expansion. It also launched a new secondary trading marketplace for Capacity Market providers dubbed Piclo Exchange last year.
Johnston wrote an article for Current± in January exploring how visibility for demand can be improved, helping to unlock contract stacking in flexibility markets.
Alongside the international expansion announcement, Piclo has appointed Tom Saul as its first dedicated chief financial officer.
Saul has more than 20 years of experience as a CFO or finance director, 15 of which have been within the energy sector, including six years at demand side response company Open Energi.
