Resources and useful links for flexibility service providers in the UK 

There’s a wealth of free information available for flexibility service providers (FSPs) in the UK to access online. These can help you better understand how to participate in flexibility markets and learn more about the opportunities available.  

With information spanning the six system operators in Great Britain and one in Northern Ireland, here are some useful links to help you access the right resources, updates, and insights, to get started on your flexibility journey. 

In this guide, you’ll find: 

1. Flexibility procurement processes 
2. Flexibility document libraries and guides 
3. Flex datasets and open data portals 
4. Future electricity and energy scenarios for distribution networks 
5. Long-term development plans 
6. Operational decision-making frameworks 
7. Webinars, Q&A sessions, and newsletters 

1. Flexibility procurement processes 

If you’re interested in participating in any flexibility service tenders, you can find information on each system operator’s (SO’s) site about how the procurement process works:  

• Electricity North West Limited’s (ENWL’s) procurement process 
• Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN’s) procurement process 
• UK power Networks’ (UKPN’s) procurement process 
• Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE Networks) flexibility page

National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), Northern Powergrid, SP Energy Networks (SPEN), and SSEN have also created a joint initiative to condense information about their flexibility service requirements in one place: 

• Access Flexible Power 

2. Flexibility document libraries and guides 

From procurement reports to guides on getting started with flexibility for each SO, get up to speed on what flexibility is, what the opportunities are, and how to participate: 

• Access ENWL’s flexible services document library 
• Access NGED’s flexibility guide 
• Access Northern Powergrid’s document library
• Access SPEN’s flexibility documents 
• Access SSEN’s flexibility services document library 
• Access UKPN’s flexibility tender hub 
• Access NIE Networks’ document library

3. Flex datasets and open data portals 

From trades and operational data to zonal requirements, you can access datasets from each SO’s portal: 

• Access the ENWL open data portal  // Access ENWL’s flexible services datasets
• Access NGED’s connected data portal // Access NGED’s flexibility requirements datasets
• Access Northern Powergrid’s open data portal 
• Access SPEN’s open data portal 
• Access SSEN’s network flexibility data // Access SSEN’s data portal
• Access UKPN’s open data portal // Access UKPN’s DSO data 
• Access NIE Networks’ open data portal

4. Future electricity and energy scenarios for distribution networks 

In this section, you can find the future energy/electricity scenarios for each of the system operators in the UK. These scenarios lay out plans and strategies for how each network will aim to facilitate the transition to Net Zero. This therefore gives an overarching insight into the future direction of the operations in your SO region.  

• Access ENWL’s Distribution future electricity scenarios 
• Access NGED’s Distribution Future Energy Scenarios 
• Access Northern Powergrid’s Distribution Future Energy Scenarios 
• Access SPEN’s Distribution Future Energy Scenarios  
• Access SSEN’s Distribution Future Energy Scenarios 
• Access UKPN’s Distribution Future Energy Scenarios 

5. Long-term development plans 

These statements aim to give you insights into the capabilities of your local electricity network and the opportunities you can access if you change your use of the network or need to connect to it: 

• Access ENWL’s plans 
• Access the NGED’s plans 
• Access Northern Powergrid’s plans 
• Access SPEN’s plans 
• Access SSEN’s plans 
• Access UKPN’s plans 

6. Operation Decision Making Frameworks 

These frameworks set out each system operator’s approach to decision making, to help all stakeholders to make informed choices when operating in markets and accessing the SO’s services.  

• Access ENWL’s framework  
• Access SPEN’s framework  
• Access SSEN’s framework 
• Access UKPN’s framework 

7. Webinars, Q&A sessions, and newsletters 

Alongside Electron webinars, here’s a list of other resources that share up to date information, on-demand videos, and live interactive sessions so you can get your flexibility questions answered. 

• Visit ENWL’s Youtube channel 
• Sign up to ENWL’s newsletter 
• Sign up to SSEN’s LinkedIn newsletter 
• Join the UKPN mailing list 

Is this blog missing any key resources and information that you’d like to see? Let us know.