SSE’s enterprise division has launched a new service aimed at businesses, councils and other large energy users who can provide local flexibility.
SSE Enhance is described as a smart grid, aggregation and trading platform that will give customers access to the wholesale market, balancing mechanism and ancillary services.
Organisations using the platform can set their own parameters on timing and opt to reduce usage at peak times, optimise their peaks through generation/storage and/or feed excess electricity back into the grid. SSE’s software and team will then optimise and/or trade the assets in response to market events.
The platform was built using ANM Strata, a distributed energy resources management system developed by Glasgow-based energy software specialist Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS).
Stephen Stead, director of strategy & digital services at SSE Enterprise’s distributed energy business, said the platform would “enable the deployment of more renewable energy generation – like wind turbines, solar panels, biomass plants and energy storage –which may have been inconceivable to customers previously due to capital cost constraints”.
He added: “This platform will help customers reduce energy demand at peak times which will help National Grid ESO to balance supply and demand, reducing the need for expensive upgrades to the wires, substations and other infrastructure.”