Italy’s E-Distribuzione to pilot a local flexibility market

Italian DSO E-Distribuzione is partnering with flexibility platform provider Piclo to deliver the country’s first local flexibility market.

The project EDGE (Energy from Distributed Resources for the Management of the E-Distribuzione Network) aims to test and establish the most appropriate solution for the procurement of local ancillary services and related remuneration in Italy.

The project will initially cover areas in four provinces, Cuneo and Venice in the north of Italy and Benevento and Foggia in the south.

Have you read?
Europe’s grids need anticipatory planning and investment – Eurelectric
Energy Transitions Podcast: Enabling flexibility with district self-balancing

“We are incredibly excited to launch this new market alongside E-Distribuzione, which is setting a new, leading standard for what can be achieved through DSO flexibility markets,” says James Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Piclo.

“This unparalleled development across Europe marks a new era for these markets including short-term flexibility services, greater integrations and end-to-end automation and ultimately improved network decarbonisation and resilience. We can’t wait to get going.”

The EDGE project is focussed on providing active power regulation services, in order to comply with network constraints in both normal operating conditions and reconfigurations caused by failures or scheduled works.

Potential resources that can participate include production and consumption units, battery storage units and electric vehicle charging systems with delivery from both residential and non-residential users.

Piclo Flex as an independent marketplace will provide the end-to-end solution to acquire and dispatch the flexibility services to E-Distribuzione’s networks.

For Piclo the project marks a further step in the growing use of the platform around the world by network operators, including four DNOs and the TSO in the UK as well as others in Ireland, Portugal, Lithuania and New York state in the US.

As of 2022, Piclo Flex had 55,000 registered flexible assets representing 16.6GW of flex capacity, with flexibility contracts awarded totalling £58 million (US$73 million) and 1.1GW+ of flexible capacity procured.

E-Distribuzione is part of the Enel Group and is the largest DSO in Italy.

The EDGE project was initiated in response to the EU’s Clean Energy Package and the growing need for flexibility in Italy, with the government’s plan to add at least 70GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 to cover 30% of the gross energy consumption.