A new smart energy auction has brought in £450,000 in collective contracts as flexible energy firms look to deliver 18.1 megawatts (MW) power.
UK Power Networks held the first auction for flexible power, contracting to Piclo, AMP Clean Energy, Limejump, Powervault and Moixa.
Smart energy systems create the ability to locally control the production, consumption and storage of power, enabling further integration of renewables and electric vehicles into the grid.
Sotiris Georgioupoulos, head of Smart Grid Development at UK Power Networks said: “Flexibility offers a wealth of opportunities for the energy resources connected to our network like wind and solar plants, but also demand side response to help us create an open, transparent and accountable new market for their services.
“All of the bids we accepted in this tender round met our robust economic criteria to ensure they will benefit our customers by offering lower costs in comparison to the traditional approach of building new assets.
“The UK is a world-leader in Smart Grid technology and Flexibility has a key role to play as we move towards a decarbonised, decentralised and digitised network that will offer significant benefits to our customers.”
James Johnston, CEO and Co-Founder of Piclo added: “We’re thrilled with the results of our first commercial auction, years of trials and ongoing development have been realised with over 18MW of flexibility now under contract.
“As renewables have boomed across the UK and internationally, grid congestion and the network flexibility required to affordably alleviate it have become top priorities for network companies.
“This first full, commercial auction will be the first of many as distribution companies across the UK and even internationally take UK Power Network’s lead in enabling the shift to a smart, flexible, low-carbon power system.”
Recommended for you
