Changes from Britain’s National Energy System Operator have opened up flexibility to more households and businesses.
Anyone with an electric vehicle (EV) charger, heat pump, or battery may now be able to benefit through a participating energy supplier or third-party aggregator by playing a role in Britain’s increasingly advanced Balancing Mechanism.
Until now most devices were unable to participate, but new rules brought in by NESO, and developed over the past 2 years with industry participants, mean anyone with an EV charger, heat pump or battery may be able to benefit further for helping regularly balance the grid.
It is hoped opening up participation in the Balancing Mechanism to households and businesses will enable an even more flexible and sophisticated electricity network, helping reduce balancing costs, boost affordability, and drive clean economic growth across Britain.
Households and businesses have previously been able to provide demand side flexibility to NESO through the Demand Flexibility Service, which typically procured relatively small amounts of energy for the grid in advance, happening a handful of times a month.
Under the scheme, consumers enjoyed benefits which included things like money off bills or rewards for taking part. Britain was one of the first countries to introduce such a national service, and it already has nearly 2 million households signed up.
The reforms follow an independent review and successful evidence-based trials with Octopus Energy, EV Energy and Pod Point. It means household devices no longer need expensive, highly accurate, specialist meters. Standard domestic EV chargers, heat pumps and batteries can participate using their existing technology.
Fintan Slye, Chief Executive of NESO, said:
“Abolishing outdated metering requirements to allow millions of households and businesses to benefit from rewards for flexing their energy use is an exciting and historic milestone in the way Britain is powered.
“Consumers will now be free to play an active and regular role in supporting sustainability from the comfort of their own home or workplace. And NESO will be able to utilise aggregated assets instead of switching on more expensive power stations – reducing costs for everyone, and helping us on the journey towards clean power by 2030.
“This is a critical step towards building a more decentralised, digital, and flexible system, capable of supporting Britain’s move to electrified heating and transport. We hope it will help unleash new entrants to the energy market, supercharging innovation and clean growth for Britain.”
Martin McCluskey, Minister for Energy Consumers, said:
“Millions of people are already making savings by using electricity when it is abundant and cheaper.
“This change will help even more consumers benefit, supporting households with electric vehicles, heat pumps or batteries to bring down their bills by using electricity flexibly.
“This is an important step towards a flexible, clean and innovative energy system, which puts consumers first.”
Dhara Vyas, Chief Executive of Energy UK, said:
“As our energy system continues to transition towards clean power, it’s important that customers can make the most of a more dynamic market. Giving households the opportunity to help balance the grid and be rewarded for it through lower bills or other benefits is a great first step.
“This change from NESO is welcome, it’ll help to ensure that households can continue to use smart products and services effectively. I look forward to continuing our work together to tackle the barriers customers face and make sure demand-side solutions can compete on a level-playing field.”
Pilgrim Beart, Vice President of Energy Services at Pod, said:
“At Pod we make the benefits of flex accessible to all, by rewarding our customers with cash every time they smart charge their EVs at home, making it more affordable for people to make the switch to electric.
“This has only been made possible thanks to a forward-thinking approach from NESO in reforming metering requirements.”
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
