National Grid: ‘Involvement in flexible grid tech surges forward’

Participation and involvement in demand side flexibility (DSF) technologies is increasingly steadily. That’s according to National Grid’s Power Responsive report, which charts the successes, challenges and opportunities presented by adaptive, […]

Participation and involvement in demand side flexibility (DSF) technologies is increasingly steadily.

That’s according to National Grid’s Power Responsive report, which charts the successes, challenges and opportunities presented by adaptive, decentralised energy solutions coming onto the UK’s electricity grid.

It says 2017 saw growing interest in domestic-level demand side flexibility, including areas such as the smart charging of electric vehicles and investments in two-way charging solutions such as vehicle-to-grid technology.

The organisation says there is greater awareness of the opportunities available and suggests the technology is now more widely regarded as ‘business as usual’ behaviour, rather than a crisis response.

It suggests this represents a positive shift in how DSF is perceived, despite some uncertainty remaining.

National Grid only expects this to continue – the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) is currently developing a voluntary Code of Conduct for aggregators to deliver confidence to DSF providers and allow them to better incorporate flexibility schemes into their operations.

It predicts in the future, battery storage, domestic DSR and electric vehicles are likely to have an increasingly significant role in enabling flexible electricity consumption.

The firm suggests data management and cyber security capabilities will need to be improved alongside these advancements.

Latest Podcast