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Flex

Editor's picks

Six big tech questions for 2020
Will AI and data analytics prevent leaks and outages? Are homes getting smarter? Do we have enough data to run smarter networks? Stephen Cousins kicks off our latest Flex series with a look at how far technology is moving from the lab into the field.
Analysis
Exploring the ethics of big data
Following a spate of recent scandals, increasing numbers of consumers are beginning to raise questions about what steps companies, regulators and legislators are taking to ensure their data is adequately protected.
Opinion
Why smart meters remain an untapped resource
Smart meters form the foundation of the utility sector’s digital transformation. But what has the industry learnt about how to use the vast quantities of data at their disposal?
Analysis

Featured

Making Digital Simple For Everyone
Over the past few years inclusivity has been a rising challenge for the utilities sector, one which is increasingly becoming a focus with regulators, with Ofwat and Ofgem calling for better service for all customers.
Opinion

Latest in Flex

Demand Flexibility Service to go live for first time this winter
National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has announced that a live Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) event will take place for the first time this winter. The ESO said that it plans to use the service to mitigate “tighter than normal” electricity supply margins and is seeking to reduce demand by 550MW between 5pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday (29 November) evening.
News
Experts split on size of long duration storage target
Experts on long duration energy storage (LDES) are split on the necessary target needed to deliver the UK's decarbonisation goal. While some experts have urged the government to set a long-term target of up to 100TWh, others have suggested that a smaller “no regrets” target should be set to “get the ball rolling” on LDES. However, government officials have refused to be pushed on the possible size of a target.
News
UK battery storage firm Statera snapped up by Swedes
Swedish private equity firm EQT has struck a deal to acquire Statera, a UK-based developer and operator of battery storage and flexible electricity-generation infrastructure. Currently owned by InfraRed Capital Partners, Statera is due to be transferred into the control of EQT by the end of the year.
News
In demand: Why the DFS needs to deliver
Both the ESO and industry have high hopes for the demand flexibility service this winter, but attention must now turn to its future role. Lucinda Dann looks at industry’s key asks for the flex service.
Analysis
Octopus: ESO has put ‘handbrake’ on household flexibility
Energy suppliers are disappointed at the Electricity System Operator's (ESO) moves to increase price discovery in the demand flexibility service, suggesting it will constrict market growth. Octopus Energy has taken particular umbrage with the move and has accused the ESO of putting a “handbrake” on the growth of domestic flexibility.
News
Code of conduct to keep flexibility providers in check
A new code of conduct has been drawn up to ensure flexibility service providers are giving customers a fair deal. The HOMEflex code has been developed by Flex Assure, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and the Centre for Sustainable Energy. It sets out a range of required customer protections including expectations around sales behaviour, contractual terms, data handling and dispute resolution procedures.
News
Calls for energy flexibility building metric
Octopus Energy’s Centre for Net Zero and the Energy Systems Catapult have called on the government to introduce a Smart Building Rating (SBR), designed to incentivise demand flexibility. The rating would work in a similar way to the current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) process, with buildings scored on their flexibility capacity.  
News
Energy sector ‘lacks ambition’ on digital innovation, says techUK leader
“Without question” companies in the UK energy sector “lack ambition” in applying emerging digital technologies for innovation and efficiency gains, a trait which will lead to missed opportunities for economic growth and UK competitiveness. So says, Teodora Kaneva, head of smart infrastructure and systems at trade association techUK.
News
Octopus customers first to help ESO balance grid
The Electricity System Operator (ESO) has selected Octopus as the first supplier to take part in a trial which will use households to provide flexibility through the Balancing Mechanism. Octopus customers taking part in the trial include customers with smart electric vehicle (EV) chargers, which will adapt their charging schedules in response to instructions sent from the ESO.
News
Long-stay car parks could unlock 4.3GW of flexible energy
UKPN claims that more than 1.3 million homes could be powered by utilising electric car batteries when they are parked in long-stay car parks. The network operator suggests that 4.3GW of flexible electricity could be unlocked by filling up electric cars’ batteries in long-stay car parks when energy is cheap and demand is low and injecting power back into the system at peak times.
News
Major milestone for ESO’s Local Constraint Market
The first end-to-end transactions of flexibility services for the ESO’s Local Constraint Market have been heralded as a success. A “world-first” trial saw households in Scotland increase their energy consumption to keep wind turbines online. The trial, led by Piclo, saw customers paid to turn-up their low carbon flex assets including heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers and electric heating.
News
Innovations sought to unlock flexibility markets
The government has launched a dedicated fund to develop technical solutions which can unlock “untapped” flexibility markets. The £2.6 million Flex Markets Unlocked Innovation Programme has been established to find technical solutions “that can facilitate system-wide coordination, standardisation, and revenue stacking across multiple flexibility markets [to] allow a more diverse and competitive marketplace, unlocking flexibility”.
News
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