UK Power Networks (UKPN) has announced plans to procure 250MW of flexibility in its largest tender to date, worth £50 million.
The distribution network operator is seeking flexibility in more than 130 locations, which for the first time will include extra high voltage sites, across all three of its license areas in London, the South East and the East of England.
The auctions will be hosted on the Piclo Flex online marketplace and will commence in January. The longest contracts on offer run until 2028.
Sotiris Georgiopoulos, head of smart grid development at UKPN, said: “We are forging ahead with a flexibility market that is open, transparent and accessible. We are now opening more sites backed by more funding than ever before, and for the first ever time in the UK at every level from low voltage to extra high voltage.
“A huge part of our success so far has been because we have co-designed the market with the very people participating in it, which has led to a host of innovations such as contracts ranging from six months to seven years in length, and minimum volumes of just 10kW to participate.”