Resources 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. Plans for the next price control period (ED3, 2028-2033)
6. 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:  

• SP Electricity North West Limited’s (SP ENW’s) procurement process 
• Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN’s) procurement process 
• UK power Networks’ (UKPN’s) procurement process 
• SP Energy Networks’ 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 SP ENW’s flexible services document library 
• Access NGED’s flexibility guide 
• Access Northern Powergrid’s document library
• Access SP Energy Network’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 SP ENW open data portal  // Access SP ENW’s flexible services datasets
• Access NGED’s connected data portal
• Access Northern Powergrid’s open data portal 
• Access SP Energy Networks’ open data portal 
• Access SSEN’s network flexibility data
• 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 SP ENW’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. Plans for the next price control period (ED3, 2028-2033)

Britain’s current price control framework (ED2) is winding up, and planning for the next is in progress for all DSOs. Here’s where you can find an overview of how each DSO is currently planning for ED3:

• Access SP-ENW’s ED3 plans 
• Access the NGED’s ED3 plans 
• Access Northern Powergrid’s plans for ED3 
• Access SP Energy Networks’ ED3 plans 
• Access SSEN’s ED3 plans 
• Access UKPN’s network development plan 

6. 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 SP ENW’s Youtube channel 
• Sign up to SP ENW’s mailing list 
• 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.