Energy regulation sandbox reopens without shutter

Ofgem has announced that its new and expanded energy regulation sandbox is now to open to applications.

The scheme allows innovators to secure exemptions from specific regulatory requirements to enable them to test out new products and services.

The first iteration saw Ofgem invite applications across two windows in 2017, eventually working with a total of 68 parties to explore and develop a range of trials.

“Based on innovator feedback, the new sandbox service offers an expanded range of tools and is designed to be always open, rather than having time-limited application windows,” wrote deputy director of future retail markets, Neil Barnes, in a blog on the regulator’s website.

“We want you to come to us with your innovative ideas when you are ready with detailed proposals.”

“Now is an ideal time for us to launch this new service,” he added. “The energy system, and how we use it, is changing, but that transformation needs to accelerate in order to drive a massive shift in how we produce and consume energy.

“The economic and social impacts of Covid-19 have given us further insight into what a low-carbon future might look like, with consumer demand patterns changing as more people work from home, and more reliance on renewable generation due to lower levels of industrial demand.”

He said Ofgem is already driving through a wide range of changes to create “a greener, fairer and smarter energy system” and that the expanded sandbox service “complements these reforms by allowing innovators to trial or launch new products, services and business models without some of the usual rules applying.”

Alongside the announcement, Ofgem also launched a consultation on proposals to introduce, among other things, supply licenses for specific geographic areas or types of premise.