Electricity North West has officially launched its latest flexibility requirements, offering North West businesses and customers who have control of their electricity demand or generation an opportunity for additional income.
The firm, which operates the North West’s power network, is calling for 259MW of flexibility from 2022-24 across 37 locations in its region, with more than £2m available for the provision of flexible services in certain locations.
Requirements are greatest in the Lancashire area, with nearly 140MW flexibility needed, with Greater Manchester at 50MW and Cumbria almost 40MW.
The deadline for registration is 21st January 2022 when potential providers must have registered and pre-qualified on the flexibility platform Piclo Flex.
Lois Clark, DSO Commercial Lead at Electricity North West said: “We continue to support the North West’s commitment to reaching net zero carbon and recognise the contribution that flexibility services makes by helping to unlock capacity on the network.
“We are also delighted to have opened our flexibility service tender process to energy efficiency schemes, which we believe have a huge part to play in facilitating this change and help to finance our net zero goals.
“We realise that not every business is familiar with flexibility services and what this means to them, as this is still a relatively new area, so encourage anyone who wants to find out more to come and talk to us, so they can benefit from financial opportunities while also doing their bit for net zero targets.”
Various organisations can benefit from providing flexibility, ranging from specialist energy companies, aggregators, farmers, supermarkets and owners of electric vehicle fleets, to non-specialist businesses looking for extra income who just happen to be in the right location. Locations change over time, so registration is also encouraged from those outside listed areas for future tenders.
Flexibility can be provided by reducing electricity demand at certain times of the day, increasing generation at times of high demand and/or installing energy efficiency measures such as LED lighting or solar panels, which reduce overall demand.
To help with increasing understanding of flexibility and related opportunities a webinar is being held on 3rd December 2021, that is open to registrations here. The webinar will also provide an update of the changing role of network operators in their transition to Distribution System Operation, and an introduction to the Electricity North West Net Zero strategy, including what help and support is available to businesses adopting low carbon technologies.
One to one flexibility surgeries are also available via this link.
The tender is Electricity North West’s ninth and takes its flexibility requirements up to over 750MW across over 100 areas in the north west.
For more information about the specific locations and eligibility criteria please visit: https://www.enwl.co.uk/go-net-zero/flexible-services/
