Global sustainable development consultancy Arup, Energy Systems Catapult and Electron have securedfunding from the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to carry out a feasibility study assessing the development of innovative technical solutions to facilitate system-wide integration of multiple flexibility markets.
Funded through the Flexibility Markets Unlocked Programme, the analysis aims to evaluate the possibility of creating a technical process and a defined set of open protocols to enable distributed energy resources to better provide large-scale electricity system flexibility through smart, accessible technologies and markets.
The funding has been made available through the Flexibility Innovation Programme, which is part of the government’s £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
“Arup has a passion for transformative digital solutions and can demonstrate this through our previous work on the Digital Spine Feasibility Study and strong knowledge of work carried out on flexibility markets to date,” said Arup global digital energy leader Simon Evans.
“By partnering with Energy Systems Catapult and Electron, we are able to bring on board considerable SME and practical expertise allowing us to provide a strong, holistic view and continue to provide strategic influence on the future of the UK energy sector.”
The programme will also support the design of technical solutions enabling data standardisation, and revenue stacking across multiple flexibility markets, allowing a more diverse and competitive marketplace.
This will help realise the flexibility benefits that exist from Low Carbon Technologies (LCTs) to reduce system costs while also enabling and encouraging commercial interoperability.
“Boosting participation in flexibility markets is key to the energy industry’s future,” said Electron chief executive Jo-Jo Hubbard (pictured).
“This study really demonstrates the need for standardised processes, more transparency, and better access to the necessary data to influence flexibility market trading going forward.
“Its proposed open ecosystem of services and platforms will incentivise participation in flex markets, lower system costs, and increase revenue stacking opportunities for flex providers – and we’ll bring this to life through our neutral flexibility market platform, ElectronConnect.
“We’re excited to partner with both Arup and Energy Systems Catapult to support this digital ecosystem.”
Energy Systems Catapult’s digital business leader Richard Dobson added: “Energy Systems Catapult is committed to ensuring the right shared digital infrastructure is in place to accelerate the energy transition as outlined in the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce.
“We are excited to be working with Arup and Electron, building on the outcomes of the Digital Spine Feasibility Study and Automatic Asset Registration project to develop another important piece of shared digital infrastructure that will help deliver a pro innovation, net zero energy system.”