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NETWORK / 21 / MARCH 2019 supply is met using flexibility services, such as demand side response, energy storage and stand-by generation. "This is an exam- ple of delivering flexibility, and supporting flexibility procurement, now," says Reid. "Visibility will be key to delivering a flexible network that encourages and facilitates customer engagement." SSEN is making this constraint visible to consumers by using the Piclo platform to ad- vertise its flexibility requirements and is using a standard set of product definitions devised by industry and wider stakeholders in the Energy Network Association's (ENA's) Open Networks Project. The company is going further by introduc- ing a global approach to procuring flexibility. "We will support local markets across the network area by offering indicative price ranges for flexibility in advance of constraints developing," adds Reid. "This goes beyond the previous approach of tendering for solu - tions only where constraints exist." As the industry seeks to transition to smarter infrastructure, businesses are proac- tively collaborating and competing to find the right approach that will deliver the flexibility that can compete against traditional network reinforcement. "DNOs are testing different approaches and sharing success to allow convergence on the most effective form of market engage- ment," says Reid. "Over the next 12 months DNOs will be monitoring each other's progress as we work to find the right formula that will see flexibility for network constraints take off." Carbon challenge For Irish electricity DNO ESB Networks, the focus on innovation and flexibility across networks is fundamentally tied to lowering carbon emissions. "ESB Networks is active in innovating to facilitate the transition to a low carbon fu - ture," says Clare Duffy, network development and electrification manager at the company. "Innovating in this dynamic environment, ENA Open Networks Project The Open Networks Project is a key initiative to deliver government policy set out in BEIS' Industrial Strategy and Clean Growth Strategy Plan, and Ofgem and BEIS' Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan. The project aims to: l Help give households, businesses and networks the ability to take advantage of new energy technologies to take control of their energy and lower their costs. l Help underpin business growth, attract investment and deliver real economic benefits to the UK. l Take a whole energy system approach to designing solutions by consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, including the gas networks, through the advisory group. Case study – SSEN's Optimise Prime project SSEN describes Optimise Prime as the world's biggest trial of commercial electric vehicles (EVs). The project will go beyond the "domestic charging" findings from the My Electric Avenue scheme, which involved trials to discover the impact that charging clusters of EVs might have on local electricity networks at peak times. The three-year Optimise Prime project has received £16.4m funding from Ofgem as part of the Network Innovation Competition (NIC). The project is seeking practical ways of overcoming the up-front costs that are currently holding back many of the country's biggest commercial vehicle operators from making the switch to EVs. The project will deliver an end-to- end overview of what the switch to EVs means for the cables and substations that deliver electricity to the community, for the businesses that need to invest in new infrastructure, and for the end users that need to power their vehicles. It is intentionally vehicle agnostic and includes depot, home, and on-the-road charging scenarios. Using large, real-life datasets and Internet of Things technologies, the project will create a detailed picture of the demands of electric fleet and private hire vehicles. This will make it possible to develop solutions that cut the cost of owning and running electric vehicles, such as charging EVs outside the electricity network's peak times. The accelerated adoption of commercial EVs will save 2.7m tonnes of CO2. In addition, the flexibility provided by the project will free up enough capacity on the electricity network to supply a million homes. Following a programme design and build phase, the first Optimise Prime vehicles are expected to be on the road during the second half of 2019. To help the wider industry prepare, the largest cross-industry datasets on commercial EV charging and use will be shared openly. In line with all NIC projects, the ultimate aim of the project is to develop systems, processes and learnings that reduce costs for UK electricity customers and reduce CO2 emissions. LOCALISED ENERGY DECARBONISATION OF TRANSPORT TRANSITION TO DSO FUTURE OF FLEXIBILITY