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ESO ends emergency flexibility service

National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has brought an end to the downward flexibility service created by the body in April to manage unusually low demand over the summer as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

The ESO thanked parties for mobilising quickly to participate despite the “challenging landscape” at the time.

More than 4.7GW of flexibility from 363 units registered to help the ESO by either lowering generation or raising demand. The Optional Downward Flexibility Management (ODFM) service was dispatched on five separate occasions, with the ESO procuring £12.7 million of flexibility and paying out £11.9 million once performance adjustments had been applied.

“This is a major milestone in the participation from renewables at scale in an ancillary service, whilst also being a route to market for demand-side providers to offer turn up service,” the company remarked in an update.

It added: “As a curtailment/demand turn up service, there is lots of learning we have gained from ODFM which we will take forward to meet our system needs for both negative reserve and whole system constraint management for future ancillary service development.”

The service ceased operating on 25 October.