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Bill payers saved more than £300 million ($409.7 million) through energy flexibility in 2024, says the UK’s Energy Networks Association (ENA), which relieves pressure on the electricity grid whilst allowing consumers to be paid for modifying their energy use.
Last year, electricity networks in Great Britain secured a record high of 9GW of flexibility. In turn, a total of 22GWh of flexibility was harnessed, enough to power almost 7,000 average UK households for a full year.
The figure represents a three-fold increase since the previous year, which is the biggest jump since data collection began in 2017.
Over the next three years, flexibility is projected to deliver over £3 billion ($4.1 billion) in savings. This is driven by lower contributions to infrastructure costs, reduced connection charges and the increased use of low-carbon energy sources.
The new figures form part of Energy Networks Association’s (ENA) drive to build a flexible energy grid through its Open Networks programme, which is being transitioned to Elexon, the newly appointed market facilitator.
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Dr Avinash Aithal, head of Open Networks at Energy Networks Association, said in a release: “It’s been tremendous to see the boom in the flexibility market over the past year. Flexibility is becoming more mainstream thanks to industry efforts to remove barriers to participation and simplify the market processes overall. The outcome of our efforts are now clear to see, with significant savings for consumers and the wider energy industry.
“Great Britain is now a global leader in energy flexibility, and I’m incredibly pleased that we are handing it over to Elexon in such a strong position. Together, ENA and industry have paved the way for the whole of Great Britain to participate in and benefit from the energy flexibility market.”
Energy networks procure flexibility services, which is an agreement between the network and the provider of flexibility to modify their usual power use in exchange for payment.
This helps to manage the grid as it becomes more reliant on intermittent low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar. Last year, a majority (80%) of contracted flexibility came from non-fossil fuel sources, ten times the capacity of the UK’s largest solar farm.
While the majority of flexibility services came from commercial organisations, householders can also reap the benefits of using electric car chargers and heat pumps, for example, at non-peak times.
