EV charging flexibility integrated into National Grid ESO’s Reserve service

Flexitricity and ev.energy have announced a partnership to utilise EV charging flexibility in National Grid ESO’s (NGESO) Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) service for the first time.

The new activity builds on and reinforces the UK’s work in opening up power markets to aggregated distributed energy resources.

Through the partnership, Edinburgh-based demand response operator Flexitricity has included 500 ev.energy users in its virtual power plant (VPP) participating in the STOR service.

NGESO calls upon the STOR when demand is greater than expected or when generation capacity has gone offline unexpectedly. When this happens, Flexitricity will ask ev.energy’s users to temporarily reduce their charging. ev.energy’s smart charging platform will respond to the request while also ensuring that drivers will have enough charge in their car when they need it.

Andy Lowe, CEO of Flexitricity, said in a release: “Flexitricity is now the first organisation to participate with 500 EV charging points in Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR). This milestone marks another industry first and showcases Flexitricity’s commitment to innovation in the energy sector.

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“By joining Flexitricity’s virtual power plant (VPP), more organisations can now contribute to GB’s largest VPP, which has recently surpassed the impressive 1GW milestone. This accomplishment not only highlights Flexitricity’s leadership in the industry but also opens up new opportunities to be part of a more sustainable and efficient energy system.”

This latest work fits into a larger effort to open up energy markets to more sources such as EV chargers, residential batteries, and heat pumps to better connect users with the power system, lower network costs and support the integration of more renewable energy.

The British energy system operator, National Grid ESO, is working on similar initiatives, such as the Demand Flexibility Service and the Live Balancing Mechanism Trial.

Meanwhile, the UK’s distribution system operators have been leading efforts to tap into resources to address local network issues. The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero and the British energy regulator, Ofgem, have helped to lay the groundwork for these initiatives and encouraged new players to take part.

Additionally, new National Grid ESO flexibility services, Quick and Slow Reserve, aim to further unlock the potential of flexible EV charging, providing value to EV drivers and reducing costs for everyone connected to the grid.