How-to Guide
Flexibility & network services
Overview
Future electricity costs are going to be increasingly sensitive to the amount of investment required to upgrade our electricity grids to accommodate growing volumes of electrified heat and transport alongside large but variable sources of renewable energy. Fortunately, community energy can be a big part of the solution.
Flexibility is going to be a very important part of achieving the Clean Power 2030 mission, which means increasing coordination and smart use of demand side technologies like heat pumps, EV chargers and batteries to smooth out the peaks and troughs between supply and demand.
Community energy enterprises have been at forefront of innovating solutions alongside our DNOs and funders like InnovateUK, which you can read about in the links below. In order for increasingly localised and decentralised renewable generation projects, energy storage and electric vehicle charging to function effectively without an overhaul to the local and national grid networks, new approaches for flexibility need to be built into future energy systems and markets. Flexibility and demand response services provide new revenue opportunities for community energy organisations, allowing us to move beyond just simple generation only projects.
Definition of flexibility (from Project LEO)
A flexibility provider is a user who provides flexibility services by making temporary changes to the way they consume, generate, or store electricity when requested, to support a more efficient use of the energy network.
Guides to flexibility and demand-side services
- Project LEO – guide to the different flexibility services currently available and explanation of the benefits to groups
- V2G Hub – website mapping Vehicle-to-Grid innovation projects around the world (bi-directional energy transfer from/to plug-in electric vehicles).
- Changes underway to grid connection – presented in January 2025 by Sarah Jeffery, Head of Strategic Customer Engagement, National Grid Energy Distribution (NGED)
- Future Energy Landscapes; Engaging with communities to identify opportunities and accelerate deployment of renewable energy projects – presented in January 2025 by Neil Best, Senior Planner for Net Zero, Centre for Sustainable Energy
- Carbon Co-op and Regen – guide to local flexibility markets and how community energy organisations can get involved.
Revenue stacking
It can be challenging to build a viable business case around providing network flexibility services. The ENA has produced a guide on how to “stack” revenues from different flexibility markets (e.g. by contracting both with your regional distribution network operator and the national transmission network operator at the same time).
DNO Flexibility Services Revenue Stacking
Download (PDF, 996KB) DNO Flexibility Services Revenue Stacking
Distribution network operators’ (DNOs) requirements and auctions
- Piclo Flex is an online marketplace where distribution network operators (DNOs) publish their future flexibility requirements and conduct auctions.
- The ENA created a single flexibility contract used by all DNOs (March 2021) – download here
- Electricity North West’s flexibility services
- Northern Powergrid’s flexibility services
- Scottish & Southern Energy Networks’ flexibility services
- UK Power Networks’ flexibility services
- Western Power Distribution’s flexibility services
Community energy projects
- Carbon Co-op – trial domestic flexibility service, PowerShaper
- Bath & West Community Energy – trial domestic flexibility service, Flex Community
- Developing Local Supply – Presented in 2025 by Alison Turnbull, Head of Innovation and Asset Management, Bath and West Community Energy