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TRADING FLEXIBLE SERVICES NETWORK / 24 / NOVEMBER 2019 Flexibility platforms: a launchpad for smarter electricity networks Flexibility is the buzzword of our times, but it may ring a little hollow to the "flex provider" that just misses out on a contract with the local DNO. Elexon chief executive Mark Bygraves explains the organisation's proposal for new online marketplaces that will allow buyers and sellers to trade with genuine flexibility I n the first quarter of 2019, more than 35 per cent of Great Britain's electricity came from renewables. It dwarfs the five percent overall contribution that renew - ables made to the generation mix a little over 10 years ago, and shows how far things have progressed towards a greener energy system. Managing the transition, and the benefits it brings, is the big - gest challenge we currently face in the energy sector. The more renewable electricity we have, the more need there is for the electricity system to be flexible. If we store more renew - able electricity at times when demand is lower, and release it back onto the networks at times of peak demand, we could have a more efficient system over - all. As well as battery storage providing greater flexibility (see p20-22), opportunities for consumers to receive payments for providing more demand side response (DSR) will also increase in future. Providing DSR could become as simple as making a few taps on our smart phones, with some help in the background from DSR aggregators that will help consumers to find these opportunities. As more consumers buy electric vehicles (EVs), aggrega- tors could play a role in making sure that EV owners are paid for connecting to the networks to provide additional electricity, or for charging when network companies need them to use up excess generation. So there are many opportu- nities for providing flexibility, but there is a problem. There are no market places where ag- gregators, storage operators and other flexibility providers can easily trade their services with network companies and other potential buyers. Market makers Usually, flexibility is only purchased by National Grid ESO from large market participants. And while distribution network operators (DNOs) are increas- ingly tendering for flexibility services, they decide what they need and set a price without any reference to a wider market. The regional DNOs may end up overpaying as a result. Mean - while, those smaller flexibility providers that do not win con- tracts from DNOs may also find that they have no other route to market. Elexon, the organisation that manages the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), ensuring that payments for imbalances in wholesale electricity supply and demand are settled accurately, has now proposed a solution to that in its latest policy docu - ment, "Setting up electricity flexibility platforms". We believe one (or more) electricity "flexibility platforms" should be set up to provide this missing marketplace. Once established, they could operate like the wholesale electricity market, where a range of prod - ucts are traded, from promptly delivered electricity to more longer-dated products. The platforms will offer a greater range of options for network companies to help them manage the grids. Net- works could purchase output from storage, DSR services, or other forms of flexibility such as additional renewable genera - tion. They could also turn to the