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.
Since the end of May, across 10 different days, a total of 3MWh of flexibility was contracted and dispatched, with flexibility service providers Orange Power and CUB UK.
The ESO’s Local Constraint Market is designed to manage transmission constraints during peak wind energy flows by creating a local marketplace that diverts extra wind power into local assets at times when southward flows are at capacity.
It also means wind turbines remain online longer, saving significant sums of money. Between 2021 and 2023, £1.5 billion was used to curtail over 6.5TWh of wind power, resulting in 2.5 million tonnes of emissions.
Claire Dykta, head of markets at the ESO, said: “Delivery of the Local Constraint Market is an important step for the ESO as we look to address rising costs and unlock wider flexibility service options from distributed assets.
“Delivering short-term solutions such as this help us on the path to deliver the goals of our markets roadmap, to deliver long term management of constraint costs and to increase the value and availability of flexibility services.”
Dykta added that the ESO is now looking to “expand this Local Constraint Market further and grow the value it can deliver for consumers”.
James Johnston, chief executive at Piclo, added: “This marks a turning point in the energy transition, where the introduction of a digital marketplace not only democratises access to flexibility markets by reducing barriers for participation but also facilitates a more efficient and streamlined operation of the electricity network.
“We start today with 3MWh and our ambition is to grow to 30GWh. This has been a massive boost to our mission to decarbonise the world’s grids.”
Piclo and the ESO are now scaling up these initial trials, working alongside the Distribution Network Operators covering the Scottish regions.
Companies are invited to register on Piclo Flex and upload any eligible distribution connected assets they have in Scotland to maintain the balance between energy supply and demand, ranging from aggregated residential assets to larger MW-scale assets.