Thursday 21 February 2019
UKPN commits £12m for flexible energy services
UK Power Networks (UKPN) is committing £12 million in funding for flexibility services across 28 locations in the South East and East of England.
It aims to kick-start a new market for energy generators and other energy resources to sell flexibility services – which seek to save customers money by buying generation or storage capacity to manage peak demand - to network operators and help lower costs for customers.
Businesses are being invited to register until 12th March, following which an auction for up to four contracts to provide flexibility services from winter 2019 will be held using the online platform Piclo.
The minimum threshold capacity is being reduced from 100kW to 50kW to allow more providers to participate.
Sotiris Georgiopoulos, Head of Smart Grid Development at UKPN said: “It is early days for the flexibility market but we’re fully committed to it because we know that it’s the right thing to do for our customers. The sums we’re investing will ultimately save customers money by extending the life of our existing infrastructure.
“Could you reduce your consumption or increase generation on instruction at peak times? If so and you’re a generator or developer with assets in any of our 28 locations, or if you can install new assets by winter 2021/21, then we’d be really happy to speak to you about how you can take part. We’re setting out to develop an open and transparent new market that will make our network stronger and more resilient while delivering value for our customers.”
