Electricity North West is collaborating with two flexibility platforms to boost routes to market participation.
The partnership will see ElectronConnect serve as the core market platform for the distribution network operator to tender and trade flexibility services, offering an end-to-end solution for flexibility service providers (FSPs); from onboarding through to dispatch and settlement.
Additionally, FSPs will have an alternative market access point through Piclo Max, further removing participation barriers.
Electricity North West said the collaboration will make it the first DNO to bring together the two platforms. The DNO will be launching its spring tender next month and FSPs will be able to access opportunities and prequalify via either platform.
Ben Grunfeld, strategy director at Electricity North West, said: “Electricity North West is firmly committed to playing a leading role in the evolution of the distribution system operation landscape.
“We believe that 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.”
James Johnston, chief executive and co-founder of Piclo, added: “This partnership with Electricity North West and collaboration with Electron is a significant step towards our goal of providing flex sellers access to every electricity market. Importantly, this demonstrates Piclo Max’s commitment to market interoperability, as we are able to seamlessly integrate with other marketplace platforms offering flex sellers a seamless experience.”
Jo-Jo Hubbard, chief executive and co-founder of Electron, said: “Electron is committed to growing both volume and value in flexibility markets, understanding that these features are inextricably interlinked. As such, we are delighted to have been selected by Electricity North West as the platform on which to operate their markets and deliver tangible benefits to their network and customers.
“We are also excited to be collaborating with Piclo Max to enable aggregated, alternative routes into markets. We believe this sets an important and positive precedent in proving our open ecosystem thesis for data portability across platforms, maximising FSP choice while preventing asset lock in at this early stage of flexibility market development.”
Electricity North West signed a two-year contract with Electron to use its “cutting-edge” market platform to procure flexibility services earlier this month.
The DNO said Electron’s platform can be configured to procure a range of flexibility services from different technologies at different voltage levels and across various timescales, from day-ahead to year-ahead.
Electricity North West said the platform will also be used to dispatch and settle contracted services and feed data-driven insights to providers so they can better predict their availability, find opportunities for revenue stacking and maximise profitability.
In January 2024 Utility Week established its Flexibility Forum, in association with our strategic partner CGI, to help break down barriers to energy flexibility growth and provide an independent setting for sense-checking the direction of travel in flexibility market governance and regulation. The Flexibility Forum community includes stakeholders from across the energy value chain. Outputs from the forum to date include a report of the status of demand side flexibility markets in GB and a review of the discussion at the Forum’s first meeting.