Published 27 November 2023
Global sustainable development consultancy Arup, in partnership with Energy Systems Catapult and Electron, have been successful in securing funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to carry out a feasibility study assessing the development of innovative technical solutions to facilitate system-wide integration of multiple flexibility markets.
Funded through the Flexibility Markets Unlocked Programme, the study aims to evaluate the possibility of creating a technical process and a defined set of open protocols to enable distributed energy resources (DERs) to better provide large-scale electricity system flexibility through smart, accessible technologies and markets.
The funding has been made available through the Flexibility Innovation Programme, which is part of the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).
“Arup has a passion for transformative digital solutions and can demonstrate this through our previous work on the Digital Spine Feasibility Study and strong knowledge of work carried out on flexibility markets to date. By partnering with Energy Systems Catapult and Electron, we are able to bring on board considerable SME and practical expertise allowing us to provide a strong, holistic view and continue to provide strategic influence on the future of the UK energy sector.”
– Simon Evans, Global Digital Energy Leader, Arup
The programme will also support the design of technical solutions that can enable data standardisation, and revenue stacking across multiple flexibility markets, allowing a more diverse and competitive marketplace. This will help realise the flexibility benefits that exist from Low Carbon Technologies (LCTs) to reduce system costs while also enabling and encouraging commercial interoperability.
These measures will pave the way for seamless integrations between buyers and sellers across multiple markets, products, and platforms, preventing vendor lock-ins and siloed operations while consolidating existing flexibility market developments.
“Boosting participation in flexibility markets is key to the energy industry’s future. This study really demonstrates the need for standardised processes, more transparency, and better access to the necessary data to influence flexibility market trading going forward. Its proposed open ecosystem of services and platforms will incentivise participation in flex markets, lower system costs, and increase revenue stacking opportunities for flex providers – and we’ll bring this to life through our neutral flexibility market platform, ElectronConnect. We’re excited to partner with both Arup and Energy Systems Catapult to support this digital ecosystem.”
– Jo-Jo Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer at Electron
“Energy Systems Catapult is committed to ensuring the right shared digital infrastructure is in place to accelerate the energy transition as outlined in the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce. We are excited to be working with Arup and Electron, building on the outcomes of the Digital Spine Feasibility Study and Automatic Asset Registration project to develop another important piece of shared digital infrastructure that will help deliver a pro innovation, net zero energy system.”
– Dr Richard Dobson, Business Leader Digital, Energy Systems Catapult
The programme will enable the facilitation of a smart, flexible electricity system underpinned by data and digitalisation. In turn, this will drive wider use of smart technologies, utilising low carbon energy and intermittent generation sources, such as solar and wind, and help contribute to meeting the target of Net Zero by 2050.
About Arup
Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of 20,000 designers, advisors and experts working across 140 countries. Founded to strive for humanity and excellence in everything that we do, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.
About Electron
Electron runs flexibility markets for DSOs and the grid edge, unlocking fast, low-cost capacity from millions of flexible distributed energy resources (DERs). By pairing grid analytics with flexibility markets, Electron reveals where DERs are and what they’re worth, so flexibility can scale wherever it makes technical and economic sense. Trusted by customers across the UK and North America, Electron is helping build a more cost-effective, reliable, and resilient energy system.
For media requests, please contact Emma Lovell at emma.lovell@electron.net.
About Energy Systems Catapult
Energy Systems Catapult is your Net Zero energy innovation partner. The independent, not-for-profit centre of excellence, Energy Systems Catapult, launched in 2015 to turbo boost clean tech innovators, help design the future energy system and accelerate the UK’s transformation to a Net Zero economy. Energy Systems Catapult has over 250 Net Zero energy innovation experts based in Birmingham and around the UK with a variety of technical, commercial, and policy expertise, helping to bridge the gap between industry, government, and academia.
We thrive on combining whole systems thought leadership with getting our hands dirty and working in collaboration with Net Zero innovators on the frontline of the energy transition to test, trial, and scale their ideas. Both identifying the barriers to decarbonisation and collaborating to develop creative solutions that work for people, place, and planet.
Get in touch to learn more about the project and Electron’s flexibility market platform.
