Flexitricity has become the first virtual lead party to trade on the balancing mechanism, dispatching two batteries owned by Philip Dennis Foodservice, a catering wholesaler in Devon.
The new role was created through an amendment to the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) and allows signatories to operate aggregated balancing mechanism units – sometimes referred to as virtual power plants – without the becoming the registered supplier for the component assets as was previously necessary.
“We are delighted to be the first to complete a trade in the balancing mechanism utilising this new route to market and are fully committed to helping more businesses like Philip Dennis Foodservice to access this revenue source,” Flexitricity director Andy Lowe.
“We have been working with businesses for over 11 years to maximise the value of their energy assets and now we can provide this service to thousands more businesses.
“Our focus has always been to build a decentralised, greener and fairer energy system where all energy users benefit – not just the big suppliers. It’s hugely rewarding to see that that’s now becoming a reality.
“Philip Dennis Foodservice – a small, family-owned business – is traded as part of our virtual power plant in the same, lucrative market the Big Six are trading in. It’s a perfect example of the progress we’ve made as an industry over the last few years.”
Roisin Quinn, head of national control at National Grid Electricity System Operator, said: “We’re excited to see the first example of wider access to our balancing mechanism as a virtual lead party in action with Philip Dennis Foodservice and Flexitricity.
“Wider access opens up opportunities for new providers and technologies to become part of the electricity market, making it smarter and more flexible as we shift away from traditional large thermal power generation to cleaner, decentralised power.
“This transformation is central to the way we balance the system today – particularly as we work to meet some of the challenges associated with balancing the system in lockdown conditions – and forms an important part of being able to operate carbon free by 2025.”
Elexon, the code administrator for the BSC, opened registration for virtual lead parties in March 2019 and made a series of changes to the code to streamline the process in July.
The organisation told Utility Week only one other company – Cenergise – has so far been registered as a virtual lead party although six others are currently going through the process.