Britain’s energy watchdog has hired Elexon to act as market facilitator for local energy flexibility as part of goals to deliver clean power by 2030 and help drive savings up to around £70 billion.
Ofgem confirmed the appointment of Elexon into the role of market facilitator – tasked with co-ordinating demand flexibility offers – following a consultation launched last year.
Britain will need to shift towards more flexible energy use – such as charging EV batteries when wind is generating lots of electricity – as the UK becomes more dependent on wind and solar power, which is more intermittent, according to Ofgem.
This comes as electricity demand is set to rise by 50% by 2025, with households increasingly switching to electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps to warm their homes.
Ofgem also on Monday launched a consultation on a new system to provide a single point of registration for flexible consumer assets, such as EV chargers, heat pumps and home battery storage systems to participate in local and national energy markets.
Ofgem said the moves would help towards the Government’s goal of clean power by 2030 and could also contribute to between around £30 billion to £70 billion in savings from energy flexibility by 2050, which would reduce household energy bills.
Ofgem director Eleanor Warburton said: “To successfully operate the developing low carbon energy system of the future we need more flexible tools to make the best use of our intermittent wind and solar potential along with network and consumer assets to meet demand.”
She added: “We are already starting to see real acceleration in small scale flexible energy use as consumers increasingly access cheaper energy through more flexible consumption.
“As market facilitator, Elexon will be able to co-ordinate and align local and national energy markets to unlock the full value of flexibility.
“Meanwhile, asset registration will create a streamlined one-stop sign-up point, which will help maximise consumer participation in flexible consumption.”