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The UK government has published its clean flexibility roadmap, developed alongside NESO and Ofgem, setting out actions to spur consumer flexibility and integrate its savings potential into the energy system.
With the publication of the Roadmap, says the government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), new ways are offered to consumers to take advantage of off-peak, lower electricity prices.
Examples cited by DESNZ include helping EV drivers get discounts on their electricity when using public chargers at off-peak times, requiring suppliers to make information on smart tariffs more accessible to consumers, and taking the next steps to help consumers access tailored products and services based on their electricity usage.
According to the government, supporting more consumers to use electricity at off-peak times will also boost the efficiency and resilience of the electricity network, making up to £70 billion ($94.9 billion) in estimated savings on system costs by 2050.
Commenting in a release was UK energy minister Michael Shanks: “This roadmap gives households and businesses the choice and control over when and how they use their energy.
“The flexible electricity system we are working to build will help make that a reality for consumers across the country, by supporting them to bring down their bills through using new tariffs and technologies.”
Akshay Kaul, director general for Infrastructure Group, Ofgem, said: “A more flexible energy market will be a real game changer, giving households more control over what they pay for their energy.
“Small lifestyle tweaks such as programming a dishwasher or tumble dryer to run overnight when costs are low or charging your electric car during high winds can have a material impact on people’s bills…we’re opening up flexibility markets to bring better tariffs and products to consumers to make cheaper bills a reality.”
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NESO actions
In a release, NESO outlines new actions they will take, as listed in the Roadmap, including:
- Setting a public target by the end of December 2025 for how much non-domestic consumer flexibility capacity will be added to NESO markets every year until 2030.
- Building on the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), by April 2026, they will explore the potential to report on carbon savings by consumers as result of flexibility actions. For large industrial and commercial consumers (I&C), this would enable them to see the carbon savings directly attributed to their flexibility to further support their commitments to reducing emissions.
- By October 2025, NESO will launch an open call for industry to bring forward propositions for large load that could participate in their flexibility markets (such as supermarket cold storage) and commit to working with them to explore how this capacity could be brought into NESO markets. NESO will also set up a dedicated onboarding team to work with non-domestic consumers and their suppliers/aggregators to identify and bring forward new flexibility into NESO markets.
Said Kayte O’Neill, chief operating officer, NESO: “The journey towards a decarbonised system will bring opportunities for industry and consumers if we can solve the challenges of using the system flexibly.
“This roadmap provides clear direction for that, setting out the actions needed to increase flexibility across Great Britain and the rewards it will bring.”
First steps
According to DESNZ, the first steps that will be taken to support a more flexible electricity system as part of the roadmap include:
- Appointing a Flexibility Commissioner, who will provide leadership over the policy area,
- Establishing ways of working with NESO and Ofgem to hold government and industry to account for delivery,
- Setting up an annual forum to track progress.
Policies being delivered as part of this work, adds the Department, include the Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS), which will enable energy usage to be billed every 30 minutes, and the Smart Secure Electricity Systems programme, which aims to help people access consumer-led flexibility.
Stakeholder reaction
According to the DESNZ, the document was developed alongside energy industry stakeholders and consumer groups, committing named organisations to specific, timebound actions to unlock flexible electricity capacity.
Several have reacted positively to the publication.
ADE, the Association for Decentralised Energy, backed the plan as a step in the right direction, but warns that it needs to be empowered to deliver lower bills, energy security, and a consumer-led transition.
They also welcomed the document’s provision of a governance framework, with a dedicated Flexibility Commissioner, focused on accelerating progress in short duration flexibility, as well as NESO’s commitment to drive greater non-domestic flexibility by setting a clear target by December 2025.
Sarah Honan, head of policy at ADE: Demand, said: “Industry demanded a step change in leadership to match our ambition – and this roadmap delivers. A dedicated Flexibility Commissioner aligns squarely with our sector’s blueprint for consumer-led clean power.
“Now, we must place British homes and businesses at the heart of the system; paying them to flex, not paying gas plants to bail us out.”
Barnaby Wharton, director of Future Electricity Systems, RenewableUK, said: “A secure, affordable and resilient power system based on renewables needs flexibility at its core, to match times when wind and solar are generating with smart demand.
“By embracing smart tariffs and technologies like EVs, modern heating systems and home batteries, and by accelerating the roll-out of more grid-scale batteries and Long Duration Energy Storage alongside renewables, we can build a more agile system which can shift, adapt and respond to demand faster. Scaling up our capacity to store energy is essential to strengthen the grid and enhance the UK’s energy security.”
Energy UK’s senior policy manager Naomi Baker welcomed the roadmap as a “positive step towards a smarter, more flexible electricity system that passes the lower cost of renewables through to bill payers.
“We support the comprehensive scope – from the major new technologies (long duration storage, CCUS and hydrogen) that will ensure system resilience, through to the knotty regulatory barriers that limit market access from consumer assets,” said Baker.
BEAMA, the UK manufacturing trade association for the electrotechnical sector, also welcomed the publication, in particular its commitment to track progress and focus on practical delivery.
Said Kelly Butler, director of external affairs at BEAMA: “With appropriate lead times for product development, a technology agnostic approach within electrification and a clear connection across consumer facing policies such as EPCs, we anticipate major supply chain investment to meet the challenge.
“With the oversight of a new Flexibility Commissioner, the roadmap has the potential to help grow the sector, and bring increased momentum to delivering flexibility to consumers and businesses through mass market uptake of Energy Smart Appliances.”
Merlin Hyman OBE, chief executive of Regen, a not-for-profit centre of energy expertise and market insight, said:
“The roadmap is an important step to bring together reforms needed to unlock the full value of the rapidly developing grid scale storage sector and consumer led flexibility in a coordinated work programme.
“The challenge now is to deliver what is a significant programme of reform of the way our electricity markets and system work to enable a rapid transition to a clean power system and to deliver value to customers.”
The Roadmap follows the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, published December 2024, which sets out plans for a two to three-fold increase in clean flexibility capacity from 2023 levels, to a range of 51 to 66GW, by 2030.
The Clean Flexibility Roadmap, explains how the government, working with Ofgem and NESO, intends to deliver that commitment.
