Record year for Britain’s flexibility markets

A record 4.6GW of capacity was tendered on local flexibility markets for delivery over the last year, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) has revealed.

The latest figures also show that a record 1.9GW was actually contracted for 2022/23, with more than 70% of this made up of energy from low-carbon technologies.

Stored energy (33%) made up the majority of the total contracted flexibility for delivery, with fossil fuels making up 19%.

Among the distribution network operators, National Grid Electricity Distribution procured the most flexibility at almost 846MW, while UK Power Networks procured more than 614MW.

The latest statistics are from the fifth year of ENA’s Open Networks programme, with figures for 2023/24 showing 2.4GW has already been contracted, with almost 4.6GW tendered.

It comes as the ENA launches a new Success Framework in which it outlines how it will make it easier for providers to participate in the flexibility market by standardising products, processes and contracts, as well as improving coordination between networks and companies and improving transparency.

Avi Aithal, head of open networks at ENA, said: “The statistics we’ve released today show just how far flexibility has come. We believe these figures make Great Britain one of the biggest flexibility markets in the world. But today’s success is history tomorrow, so we need to keep pushing on and maximising flexibility across the networks.

“The government’s and Ofgem’s support for the programme has been invaluable and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them. It’s been a tremendously exciting time for the scheme as we have been focused on making flexibility accessible to everyone in the UK, which is vital to helping the UK meet our net zero goals at the least cost to customers.”