UK Power Networks (UKPN) has announced a partnership with power market operator EPEX SPOT to host its flexibility market tenders.
UKPN claims that the partnership will deliver a “paradigm shift to supercharge the flexibility market”.
The partnership opens up opportunities to facilitate revenue stacking between local flexibility and national wholesale markets.
UKPN has already awarded contracts for more than 1GW of flexibility. The DSO has previously committed to saving customers £410 million by 2028 and has already delivered £60 million worth of savings in 2023 alone, by utilising flexibility as an alternative to the traditional approach of delivering network capacity by building more infrastructure.
The EPEX SPOT Localflex platform offers opportunities to trade power for today or the next day.
In December 2023, UK Power Networks began a trial of day-ahead flexibility procurement in East Anglia. This process will be migrated to the Localflex platform from April 2024, followed by UK Power Networks’ long-term flexibility tenders from May 2024.
Sotiris Georgiopoulos, director of DSO at UK Power Networks, said: “EPEX SPOT offers the opportunity to exceed our commitment to avoiding £410 million of infrastructure investment between 2023 and 2028.
“We’re looking forward to working together with EPEX SPOT and our market participants to deliver a world class customer experience and contribute to a more joined up British flexibility market.”
Ralph Danielski, chief executive officer of EPEX SPOT, added: “The pioneering partnership between UK Power Networks and EPEX SPOT for the market-based procurement of flexibility marks an important milestone in facilitating net zero.
“The project serves as a lighthouse towards the entire energy sector, and we are very looking forward to further shape the future of flexibility markets.”
Entries are now open for the Flex Awards – Utility Week’s new celebration of the individuals, teams and organisations pioneering energy flexibility.