The UK flexibility market continues to grow, with 9GW contracted in 2024. New regulations and digital infrastructure are coming into play to support the National Energy System Operator’s target of 12GW consumer-led flexibility by 2030. So, here are five key developments shaping UK flexibility and its flex markets for 2026.
This blog covers:
- P483 unlocks domestic flexibility before Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS)
- Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) evolves into year-round tool
- Elexon combines Open Networks legacy with market facilitator role
- Digital infrastructure accelerates flexibility market integration
- BiTraDER creates new market for trading curtailment obligations
1. P483 unlocks domestic flexibility before Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS)
Ofgem approved BSC Modification P483 in August 2025, which removes the half-hourly settlement requirement for aggregators to trade domestic flexibility. This enables Virtual Lead Parties to access around 345,000 households and small businesses previously excluded from UK flexibility markets.
Consumers can now earn money by adjusting consumption during peak times whilst contributing to a lower-carbon grid – without waiting for smart meter upgrades or Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) implementation in 2026.
For commercial aggregators, it allows them to build portfolios that combine industrial, commercial, and residential assets for more consistent service delivery.
This positions end-consumers at the forefront of grid balancing strategies, with aggregators transforming millions of previously inaccessible assets into flexible resources that can participate in wholesale markets.
2. Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) evolves into year-round tool
The Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) transformed from emergency winter service to year-round balancing tool in November 2024. This will operate as an “in-merit service”, dispatched when competitive compared with alternative methods like increasing generation or using interconnectors with other countries.
The DFS model demonstrates how moving closer to real-time procurement and enabling stackability with other services can scale participation and ensure more certainty over requirements.
National Energy System Operator (NESO) data shows it has been well-demonstrated, with over 4 million participants delivering 7GWh of flex over two winters.
Year-round operation will enable flexibility providers to optimise asset utilisation across multiple revenue streams whilst helping NESO balance the grid continuously.
3. Elexon combines Open Networks legacy with market facilitator role
Elexon began market facilitator operations in December 2025, coordinating more than 20 nascent local and national flexibility markets.
It will build on the Open Networks programme’s standardisation achievements including aligned flexibility products, common settlement processes, and dispatch APIs.
The phased handover throughout 2025 transferred technical working groups from the Energy Networks Association (ENA) to Elexon. This ensures continuity whilst introducing enhanced governance for the UK flexibility market.
Elexon’s flexibility roadmap published in July 2025 sets out how it will support delivery of a five-fold increase in consumer-led flexibility by 2030 through removing barriers and unlocking the value of data.
The first delivery period (January 2026 to March 2028) prioritises alignment of Distribution System Operator flexibility services with the majority of National Energy System Operator (NESO) ancillary services, excluding stability and reactive power.
Key early outputs include:
- Alignment of baselining methodologies used by NESO and DSOs
- Implementation of broader primacy rules clarifying which flexibility purchaser takes precedence when the same asset is called on for multiple services
- The development of the Flexibility Market Asset Register (FMAR) aiming to launch in 2027 as a single source of truth for flexibility assets across all UK markets, eliminating duplicate registrations for assets under 1 megawatt.
4. Digital infrastructure accelerates flexibility market integration
Two standardisation initiatives advanced in 2025 to unlock flexibility at scale. The Data Sharing Infrastructure, now in pilot development with NESO’s Virtual Energy System programme, eliminates the need for separate data agreements with each market operator – currently a major barrier requiring extensive manual workarounds that limit participation to sophisticated flexibility service providers (FSPs).
The Flexibility Markets Unlocked programme is another standardisation project, delivering Flexify, a web-based platform improving UK flexibility market access. This sits alongside Flexibility Data Standards – to enhance transparency and interoperability for data exchange – and the Market Rules Test Bed to assess the impact of market rules within the flex ecosystem.
Government-backed initiatives like these address the core challenge facing local flexibility markets in the UK: reducing the complexity and cost of participating across multiple platforms and protocols.
These initiatives signal an important shift for utilities operating flexibility platforms. DSOs embracing open standards will find it easier to attract participants and achieve market liquidity.
5. BiTraDER creates new market for trading curtailment obligations
BiTraDER entered live trial phase in 2025, creating a new flexibility market where providers can bilaterally trade curtailment obligations. Operating initially in the SP Electricity North West area, this first-of-its-kind market allows flexibility assets facing network constraints to trade their positions with other assets that can deliver the required response.
This innovation fundamentally changes how curtailment is managed, becoming a tradeable commodity. By enabling high-level platform integration and two-way data flows between market participants, BiTraDER demonstrates how new market mechanisms can unlock value from existing flexibility assets whilst maintaining grid stability. It’s a model that could transform how DSO flexibility markets handle network constraints globally.
Looking ahead
The 2025 developments provide clear pathways to support the government’s Clean Power 2030 ambitions. NESO and Ofgem published the Clean Flexibility Roadmap in July 2025, outlining how Great Britain can develop a smarter, consumer-focused energy system.
The roadmap estimates that total flexibility capacity will reach 55.2 gigawatts by 2030 and 204 gigawatts by 2050, representing a four-to-five times increase from today’s levels.
NESO committed to setting a public target by the end of December 2025 for how much non-domestic consumer flexibility capacity will be added to NESO markets every year until 2030.
P483’s immediate access, DFS evolution, and Elexon’s market facilitator implementation create foundational infrastructure for this ambitious scaling.
As MHHS approaches in 2026 and digital infrastructure rolls out through 2027, these developments position flexibility as fundamental to achieving clean power rather than supplementary tools.
The challenge now is maintaining momentum as regulatory frameworks translate into operational reality whilst market platforms scale to accommodate millions of flexible assets needed for the energy transition.
Read more
6 energy flexibility trends and updates from the European Union (EU) for 2026
Here’s an overview of some of the trends affecting how that flexibility will develop in the EU in 2026.
A guide to flexibility services for UK providers
What FSPs need to know about participating in UK flexibility markets.
Your guide to flexibility market types and how they work
Here’s an overview of the key flexibility market types and the network challenges they help address.
