Northern Powergrid to hold flexibility auction to help manage network faults

Northern Powergrid has revealed plans to hold an online auction for flexibility services to help manage its network in the event of a fault.

The distribution network operator (DNO) is aiming to contract up to 100MW flexible capacity across seven locations though its Restore Flexibility scheme.

The auction will be open to demand-side response providers, generators, aggregators and storage operators. It will take a “reverse Dutch” format, whereby the auctioneer incrementally raises the price from a low starting point until a bidder agrees to sell.

Andrew McKenna, commercial development manager at Northern Powergrid, said: “On the occasion where utilising customer flexibility is inherently cheaper than the counter factual action, we will look to take this action, meaning that not only do customers with assets benefit from a new revenue stream, but every single customer benefits financially from the DNO achieving the same outcome through a more cost effective method.”

Northern Powergrid head of policy development Jim Cardwell added: “With increasing numbers of councils across our patch declaring a climate emergency, we are eager to build a system that can support a fully decarbonised power sector while ensuring we provide the best possible service at the best possible price for every single member of our community.

“Actions like flexibility procurement for network resilience are crucial to this and empower our customers to play a more active role in network management.”