The Danes today confirmed their investment go-ahead to co-locate the 300MW/600MWh storage system, among Europe’s largest, on the Norfolk site.  No cash value was disclosed.

Commissioning the devices is timetabled for late 2026. Co-locating both facilities will minimise disruption during construction and later during operations.

At 600MWh, the Tesla-built battery will host clean wind power in quantities enough to power a nominal 80,000 homes.

Ørsted sees gargantuan coulomb crèches like Swardeston as natural partners for its 12 wind farms now generating in British waters.

The company has 660MW/1,850MWh of batteries either under construction or already in service across the UK and US.  Over 2GW of further amp hotels are in various stages of development in the same regions, plus Ireland.

The departing Sunak administration intended to multiply the nation’s present offshore generation capacity fourfold by 2030, reaching 50GW.  In their manifesto due tomorrow, Labour are expected honour that target.

Duncan Clark, Ørsted’s boss in UK & Ireland, said: “The Swardeston battery will help ensure renewable energy is used in the best possible way by storing it when demand is lower and then releasing it back into the system when really needed. This maximises the potential of renewable energy whilst providing increased energy security and value to consumers. “

Mike Snyder, Megapack senior director at battery providers Tesla, said: “We are excited to be part of this industry-leading project with an exceptional partner. This project demonstrates the value and flexibility of Tesla’s best-in-class power electronics, providing enhanced grid stability and enabling more renewables on the grid.”

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Believed to be the biggest deal of its kind in the world, the contract will connect just over 50% of GRID’s large-scale batteries to Octopus’ technology platform Kraken.   Kraken’s unique AI and machine learning optimisation will charge GRID’s batteries at times of renewable energy glut and discharge them when Britain’s National Grid is under stress.

Such intelligent flexibility reduces wasteful instances of ‘curtailment’ or jettisoning cheap clean power when too much electricity – both low carbon & thermal – swamps Britain’s  transmission  & distribution networks.

‘Curtailment’ left UK energy bill payers with a staggering £800 million of costs in 2022.

Launched in 2018, Gresham House is the largest battery investment fund in the UK, owning around one-fifth of UK utility-scale storage. Octopus will take over half of GRID’s British-based large-scale battery fleet for the next two years.

Those 14 large-scale amp hotels & coulomb crèches can store in excess of 900MWh of electricity  – enough to power 1 million homes for an hour, or a city the size of Birmingham.

Its deal with Gresham House follows hot on the heels of Octopus reaching 1GW worth of shiftable load – the largest virtual power plant in the UK – through its electric vehicle (EV) tariff, Intelligent Octopus Go.

The supplier’s head of flexibility Kieron Stopforth said: “Every year the UK loses hundreds of gigawatt-hours of clean energy because our system isn’t flexible enough to keep it – PLUS have to pay for this senseless waste.

“Batteries unlock the clean and cheap energy system, storing green energy when it’s plentiful and providing it back to the grid when energy is expensive – and work even better with brilliant tech to manage that optimisation,

“Through this landmark deal with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, we’re not only increasing the size of our virtual power plant to over 1.5GW, we’re also unlocking the power of flexibility, aiming to drive down grid costs.”

Ben Guest, fund manager of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc & MD of Gresham House New Energy, said: “These new contracts with Octopus Energy secure revenues which are above those currently being achieved in the national market, demonstrating the value batteries can provide in balancing supply and demand for retail and wholesale market players.”

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The DNO says its latest tender offers a broader mandate and a more streamlined process for participation compared to the previous tender.

Highlights include:

• 486MW of flexibility sought across 29 locations in Greater Manchester, Cumbria & Lancashire
• access to a combined revenue of more than £7 million over a four year period

The tender is now available on both ElectronConnect and Piclo Max, providing multiple avenues to participate and greater visibility.

Flexibility services, which offer a smarter, more efficient alternative to traditional network reinforcements, are set to play a crucial role in managing energy demand and supply effectively across the North West.

“Our spring flexibility tender reflects our commitment to a more inclusive and accessible flexibility market,” said Ben Grunfeld, strategy and growth director at Electricity North West.

“We are seeking significant capacity from across the North West, and we are making it easier for flexibility providers to participate through industry-leading platforms like ElectronConnect and Piclo Max.”

Building on the foundation set through previous tenders, this latest call for flexibility services marks a pivotal step in adapting to the changing dynamics of energy consumption, generation, and trading.

Full details on the spring tender, including the interactive flexibility map showcasing our latest requirements and the ability to book a one-on-one discussion, can be found Electricity North West’s website: Latest Requirement – Flexible Services.

In 2022, ENW appointed Gillian Williamson as its chief technical officer, one of the first women to hold a senior engineering role in regional distribution.

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New proposals set out in a consultation today seek to shape minimum product standards for energy smart appliances, and minimum levels underpinning cyber security & grid stability.

Smart appliances enable consumers to manage their energy use to benefit from cheaper tariffs at times of low electricity demand. A smart charge point, for example, can be programmed to wait for a period of low-demand overnight to charge an EV.

Devices using even minimal amounts of electricity – such as heat pumps and home EV chargers –offer great flexibility potential for time-shifting, easing network load away from peak hours. The latest consultation assess how and if home appliances might be required by law to offer smart functionality.

Besides creating technical & regulatory frameworks, the government’s Smart Secure Electricity Systems (SSES) programme is designed to further to decarbonisation of Britain’s electricity system in a way that protects consumers and the grid.

Running until 11 June, this latest consultation builds on 2022’s Delivering a smart and secure electricity system consultation and the government’s response.

Is your toaster tariff-sensitive?

D-ESNZ’s latest proposals portray smart devices’ capability as offering savings as high as £50 billion collectively in the decades to 2050.   Besides lower network investment, officials claim the use of smart systems and flexibility could create 10,000 jobs and increase GDP by up to £1.3 billion over the same period.  A further 14,000 jobs could be created by exporting the technology.

Lord Callanan, minister for energy efficiency and green finance, pictured, said:  “Smart devices mean consumers with a smart meter can easily use the cheapest tariffs to charge their car or heat their home.

“These latest measures will help families get the best deal through their smart device and could help save up to £50 billion by 2050 – meaning lower bills for families, while supporting up to 24,000 jobs across UK”.

Proportionate standards will be set for organisations providing smart energy services, giving consumers the power to easily compare services whilst ensuring they are not unfairly locked in or out of contracts, and preventing the mis-selling of services.

Officials say the government’s plans under SSES also address the problem of some tariffs only working with certain brands of appliance. This will ensure that appliances like EV smart charge points and smart heat pumps can work with any supplier or tariff, making it easier for consumers to access the best deals regardless of what device they have.

More active user engagement in power supply – and less passive bill paying every month – will be another benefit, observers believe.

“Public participation in our energy system is not a ‘nice to have’ but an absolute imperative to reach Net Zero in a cost-effective and secure manner”, Sarah Honan, policy head at The Association for Decentralised Energy commented:

“Following the first consultation and the passage of the Energy Act, this publication marks another important step towards unlocking the value of demand flexibility through smart-as-standard devices and competitive customer offerings from a range of service providers. We applaud the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for continued leadership, agility, and pragmatism in devising regulations fit for the future of this burgeoning industry.

Though they are not the same thing, flexible operation of smart appliances is supported by smart meters. Over half of British homes already have smart meters, meaning they can access cheaper, off-peak energy tariffs which can save households on average £900 a year, according to D-ESNZ estimates.

The measures also include a legal requirement to treat consumers fairly and require service providers to have a consumer complaints process in line with that required for energy suppliers, as well as access to a redress process. Government will also reduce the barriers to those switching providers and strengthen cybersecurity and data protection requirements for all smart energy providers.

Further details are here.

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A total of 500 charge points operated by EV.Energy are now linked up to make a virtual power plant (VPP) overseen by the pair.

Contributing to NG-ESO’s Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) service for the first time, the duo’s venture advances pioneering work in opening up Britain’s power markets to aggregated resources of distributed electricity.

They stress that their participation in power reserve markets is not an innovation or pilot project, but part of business-as-usual commercial flexibility.

The NG-ESO calls upon its STOR reserve when grid power demand is greater than expected or when generation capacity falls offline unexpectedly.

In such cases, Flexitricity will ask EV.Energy’s users to temporarily reduce their charging. The operator’s smart charging platform will respond to the request, while ensuring that drivers will have enough charge in their car when they need it.

Flexitricity CEO Andy Lowe, pictured, said: “We are now the first organisation to participate with 500 EV charging points in Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR).

“This milestone marks another industry first and showcases Flexitricity’s commitment to innovation in the energy sector”, Lowe went on.

“By joining Flexitricity’s virtual power plant, more organisations can now contribute to GB’s largest VPP, which has recently surpassed the impressive 1GW milestone. This accomplishment not only highlights our leadership in the industry but also opens up new opportunities to be part of a more sustainable and efficient energy system.”

Headquartered in Edinburgh, Flexitricity claims to operate Britain’s largest, most advanced demand response portfolio, creating revenue for energy users and generators as well as reducing national CO2 emissions.

Nick Woolley, EV.Energy’s CEO added: “EV.Energy is participating as many EV drivers into grid services programmes as possible. We were one of the first and biggest providers of services to distribution system operators and our participation in STOR now highlights our continued leadership in the sector.”

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Responding to feedback from 200-plus stakeholders & counterparties, the blueprint sets out how National Grid Electricity Distribution will make real on the commitments of its 2023 Charter, including governance, flexibility markets, and network planning.

The DSO operates distribution for the Midlands, South West England and South Wales.  In its first year of full separation from the grid’s transmission and network balancing operations, NGED’s DSO says it has delivered:

• 10 GW more capacity through initiatives including ‘Technical Limits’, speeding offers for connections by as much as 5 years
• 70,000 flexibility assets, including batteries & short notice reserve, registered on its ‘Market Gateway’ platform, launched last July
• £80m of network investment deferred through purchase of 17 GWh-plus of flexibility services
• Connecting 374 MW of new generation, including over 11,000 heat pumps and more than 52,000 home EV chargers.

This year the DSO says it will sharpen local short-term forecasting, using weather data to feed into decisions on flexibility dispatch and curtailment modelling.

Also targeted is widening the scope of the DSO’s PRIDE (Planning Regional Infrastructure in a Digital Environment) project. This gives digital support to local authorities preparing Local Area Energy Plans.

For the first time it will release weekly dispatch data, digitalise its trading function, and introduce day-ahead flexibility competitions and expand revenue stacking.  The moves build on its recent ‘Revenue Stacking for Flexibility’ report produced with Cornwall Insight.

That study highlighted potential benefits of ‘jumpability’ – where a flexibility asset could operate in diverse markets, offering services at different times depending on network need – and of ‘co-deliverability’, where an asset could offer several services to different markets at the same time.

NGED said it welcomed the commitment from parent National Grid ESO that any repeat of its Demand Flexibility Service will involve review and probable removal of the exclusivity clause which at present limits opportunities for providers and thus the potential size of the market for flex services across distribution networks.

The DSO says its ‘flexibility first’ approach can maximise the use of existing capacity, postponing the need for spending on network reinforcement. Costs to consumers will be saved, and accelerated connections will cut overall carbon emissions.

National Grid Electricity Distribution director Ben Godfrey, pictured, observed; “I’m truly excited by the future evolution of our DSO and the benefits we can create by enabling decarbonisation in our communities.

“We’re in full support of the ESO’s plan to remove exclusivity arrangements from its Demand Flexibility Service and would like to see this change made as soon as is practical so we can expand our ‘flexibility first’ approach to decarbonising the electricity distribution network as efficiently as possible.”

In November NGED published its DSO Charter, setting out its vision and commitments to counterparties  It also set up an independent DSO panel to improve governance and accountability. Chaired by Regina Finn, it brings together experts from across the energy sector to provide challenge and strategic advice.

On the same day that Ofgem published its own five grid masterplan, NGED released its plan at an event at London’s no longer generating Battersea Power retail complex.

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The alliance will see the software authors’ ElectronConnect product as the core market platform for the DNO to tender and trade flexibility services, offering an end-to-end solution for FSPs to participate in all functions, from onboarding through to dispatch and settlement.

Electricity North West will be launching its next flex tender in April. FSPs will be able to access opportunities and prequalify via either platform.

Providers will also have an alternative access point through Piclo Max, further removing barriers to participation.

The three way collaboration will make Electricity North West the first Distribution Network Operator (DNO) to bring together these two identified platforms to maximise both functionality and FSPs’ routes to market.

Electricity North West is among the first DNOs to leverage Piclo Max.  Launched in 2024, the platform seeks to meet the needs of flex sellers, streamlining access to all electricity markets from a single position, enabling sellers to maximise revenue stacking opportunities across multiple markets.

Electron says its ElectronConnect product is the next generation of flexibility market platforms, maximising the scale and value of the flexibility procured by ENW and other actors across a variety of FSPs, technology types, and time scales.

Its integration capabilities with network monitoring and control systems unlock deeper automation and value capture. Its open ecosystem approach to design enables it to onboard FSPs directly or through any central or private onboarding platform of their choice.

Ben Grunfeld, the DNO’s strategy director said: “Electricity North West is firmly committed to playing a leading role in the evolution of the distribution system operation landscape.

“Embracing innovative technologies like Piclo Max and ElectronConnect is crucial to unlocking the full potential of flexibility and delivering real benefits to our customers. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our journey to create a more efficient, secure, and customer-centric electricity network for the North West.”

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The move comes after a successful trial in the East of England and will transform the flexibility marketplace, opening up more opportunities for electricity providers and supporting green energy.

The introduction of the day-ahead product will see mini-tenders run daily to provide services for the following day, alongside the current twice-yearly flex tenders. The mini-tenders allow flexibility providers to offer a more informed view of their availability, offering new commercial opportunities and meaning they can co-ordinate their activity providing services in other places such as wholesale markets and ancillary services.

The new product enables flexibility providers to help manage peaks in supply and demand by committing to changes in their behaviour the day before delivery.

Day-ahead flexibility began in late 2023 with a manual trial in Lawford, Essex, where day-ahead flex was used to manage an area where future constraints were forecast. As a hub for renewable generation and home to a growing number of flexibility providers, it served as a testbed for the first trial of DSO day-ahead product.

The trial successfully saw the UK’s first use of the day-ahead product at distribution level, with three flexibility providers responding to day-ahead forecasts of constraints produced by UK Power Networks’ DSO. The DSO worked with flexibility providers and the national system operator in summer 2023 to develop the product so that it maximised opportunities for providers to participate in both local and national services.

Working with flexibility market platform provider Epex SPOT, the day-ahead product is transitioning from a manual process to a platform that uses an API to communicate data with market participants’ own systems.

Alex Howard, head of flexibility markets at UK Power Networks’ DSO, said “Flexibility providers have told us that they want the chance to participate closer to real-time. We’ve responded by working with them to develop a solution that works for our company, flexibility providers and the wider system. As we now transition participants to the EPEX SPOT LocalFlex platform, I’m excited about scaling this up to attract new flexibility to DSO markets.”

Casper Ruane, portfolio manager for flexibility at AMP, said: “This first-of-its-kind product answers customer calls for real-time participation and has the proven ability to provide network users with more support as well as widen the accessibility of the flexibility market. We look forward to working with UK Power Networks during the live roll out over the coming weeks.’

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Customers that turn down their usage an average of 0.7kWh per session across all sessions will earn back enough to offset the £24 price cap rise, the supplier asserts.

Over 313,000 ‘Saving Sessions’ customers are expected to earn this amount before the end of this year’s demand flexibility service on March 31.

‘Saving Sessions’ was the first consumer flexibility project to be announced after National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Scheme launched in November 2022.

In 2023 more than 700,000 of Octopus’ smart meter customers signed up to turn down their energy usage, earning a combined £5.3 million over the course of last winter.

This year’s ‘Saving Sessions’ has already eclipsed the last. Over 1.2 million customers are now signed up and have already earnt £4m in just 10 possible hours of activity. Analysis as as below.

This year, customers are rewarded with ‘Octopoints’ as part of its recently announced rewards scheme, ‘Octoplus’. The number of ‘Octopoints’ earned varies based on the specific event, and streak bonuses and prize draws are up for grabs for those participating in multiple sessions in a row.

Octopus is now extending versions of the UK scheme to its French and American customers.

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, the supplier’s chief product officer, commented: “With millions of our savvy customers enjoying cashback for reducing energy usage, more and more can beat the price cap in the depths of winter – while also helping the grid!

“Through ‘Saving Sessions’, smart tariffs and demand flexibility, we’re creating a brand new energy system that has customers benefiting at the heart. We’re imploring as many customers as possible to get involved and turn down as much as possible so that the price cap rising won’t seem so daunting.”

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The DSO has committed to saving customers £410m by 2028 and has delivered £60m worth of savings in 2023 alone, by utilising flexibility as an alternative to the traditional approach of delivering network capacity by building more infrastructure.

EPEX SPOT says it is Europe’s leading power spot exchange, with the highest total traded volume and widest range of innovative products, counting over 140 members and exceeding 8TWh traded monthly in Britain.

EPEX SPOT was appointed as the new flexibility market platform provider after a competitive tender. As the leading European short-term power exchange, it has a strong track record in delivering innovative market design and brings together a community of UK energy trading companies with opportunities to benefit from UK Power Networks’ flexibility market.

As the only independent DSO, UK Power Networks has already awarded contracts for more than 1GW of flexibility. Working together, the two companies are confident they have the ingredients for a highly scalable, innovative and coordinated flexibility market.

As part of the deal, EPEX SPOT will adopt the industry-standard processes and products defined through the Open Networks programme. While the Localflex platform offers a full set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), these will be reviewed in the context of industry developments to simplify participation for flexibility providers and maximise interoperability with other market platforms.

Flexibility providers will be supported to register on the EPEX SPOT Localflex platform and will have the opportunity to help shape priorities for platform development.

In December 2023 UK Power Networks began a trial of day-ahead flexibility procurement in East Anglia. This process will be migrated to the Localflex platform from April 2024, followed by UK Power Networks’ long-term flexibility tenders from May 2024.

Sotiris Georgiopoulos, director of DSO at UK Power Networks said: “EPEX SPOT offers the opportunity to exceed our commitment to avoiding £410m of infrastructure investment between 2023 and 2028. We’re looking forward to working together with EPEX SPOT and our market participants to deliver a world class customer experience and contribute to a more joined up British flexibility market.”

Ralph Danielski, chief executive officer of EPEX SPOT, said: “The pioneering partnership between UK Power Networks and EPEX SPOT for the market-based procurement of flexibility marks an important milestone in facilitating Net Zero. The project serves as a lighthouse towards the entire energy sector, and we are very looking forward to further shape the future of flexibility markets.”

Local flexibility markets are playing a key role in minimising the need for additional grid infrastructure to accommodate the growth of low carbon technologies such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and renewable generation. It is widely accepted that flexibility will be an enabler of a timely and low cost Net Zero transition.

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Its alliance announced today with financiers InfraRed Capital Partners opens the way, the six-year old technology provider believes, to supercharge its growth within the new build housing market.

Volume homebuilders including Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and CALA are trialling Wonderwall’s home energy system (HEMS).  It is designed to identify the optimum time to buy energy from, and sell energy back, to the grid for an overall net-zero energy home aim and the potential to deliver negative energy bills.

Use of its AI-enhanced energy technology has seen negative bills delivered already over summer months.   Given the non-technical addition of altered occupant behaviour, the technologists believe the package’s carbon saving potential towards Net Zero goes much further.

The provider claims that, if a home was built to current Future Homes Standard (FHS) requirements, and equipped with home-scale renewables, Wondrwall’s technology automatically pushes it beyond FHS requirements.  Wondrwall allows lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills and lower energy consumption with no incremental operational cost.

Today’s partnership supports the provider’s ambition to unlock an initial investment programme of over £100m.  Also on Wonderwall’s destination board is a goal of expanding growth of its footprint to over 100,000 net-zero energy homes in the UK and overseas.

Forty new jobs and the appointment of a new commercial director have been enabled by the deal.

Daniel Burton, Wondrwall’s CEO and founder said: “This is a landmark moment. It will help us accelerate towards our ambition of making intelligent net zero living accessible to all.  InfraRed is an exceptional partner for Wondrwall and the investment underlines the importance of our technology in helping to reduce energy consumption of homes and help the UK in transition to net-zero.

“Put simply, Wondrwall creates the most intelligent homes in Britain“.

Energy infrastructure and consumption specialists InfraRed Capital Partners manage an international portfolio of around $14bn equity assets.

Stephane Kofman, its partner in charge of capital gain funds, added : “Wondrwall is a company that stands at the forefront of the energy transition. This partnership demonstrates our ongoing commitment to invest in infrastructure solutions that both support sustainable futures and address the current cost of living crisis.”

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The start-up has signed up more than 150 present or potential flex sellers combining 60,000 assets, including batteries and other dispatchable power storage.  From this month, Piclo will offer them direct access to the NG’s opportunities in low voltage flexibility, promising chances to trade a claimed 90MW of local capacity.

At its simplest, flexibility unlocks cash value to power users, traders and aggregators from the first-named’s ability to time-shift or cut electricity consumption.  As Britain’s electricity system increased in recent decades its reliance on intermittent renewables, such buffering and balancing mechanism grows in value.  Thus the National Grid argues it makes evert greater business sense to maximise market participation by FSPs.

With three DNOs – Northern Powergrid, Scottish Power EN and SSEN – the NG’s distribution unit already operates Flexible Power, a service interrogating the four firms’ database of local assets.

Now National Grid’s partnership with Piclo goes further, building interfaces into a fuller Market Gateway platform. This environment enables FSPs operating via Piclo’s platform to access seamlessly and participate in National Grid’s local distribution territories.

In November 2023, Piclo announced its new product Piclo Max, which it billed as the world’s first solution enabling access to all electricity markets from one place.

The partnership with National Grid is the first stage of Piclo’s ambition to enable flex sellers to access all six local flexibility markets from Piclo Max, with further UK electricity markets throughout 2024.

Later expansion into overseas, even global, markets is explicitly flagged by the partners.  Flex transactions for Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania and the state of New York are already settled across Piclo’s London-based trading platforms.

CEO James Johnston co-founded Piclo in 2013.  He said today: “This collaboration with NG is all about unlocking the potential of market interoperability.

“For the first time, FSPs have a choice regarding how they experience and interact with UK flex markets. It’s a significant milestone for market accessibility and a critical step towards enabling revenue stacking”.

Matt Watson, National Grid’s head of commercial and operability, responded: “This is our first step towards opening up our Market Gateway platform for wider market entry and the interfaces we’re developing with Piclo will provide FSPs with greater choice on how they enter the distribution flexibility market.

“We hope to see an increase in the offers available to us and importantly we’ll be able to make fair decisions on market clearing regardless of which platform the FSP trades through.”

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