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Home | GridBeyond Among First Flex Assure Signatories: Advocating for Transparency and Integrity in Energy Services

Posted 4 years ago | 4 minute read

GridBeyond Among First Flex Assure Signatories: Advocating for Transparency and Integrity in Energy Services

GridBeyond, the European leader in intelligent energy technology, demand side response (DSR) and flexibility solutions, is one of seven signatories of the newly launched Code of Conduct, Flex Assure.

The voluntary compliance scheme was developed by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) in collaboration with the National Grid Electrical System Operator (ESO), with the guidance and support of GridBeyond and other industry stakeholders. Flex Assure will help businesses in making more informed decisions when engaging with DSR and flexibility providers.

Quickly evolving grid balancing services and regulations mean the energy sector can be complex and difficult to follow for end-users without extensive energy expertise.

Flex Assure addresses these issues and helps to remove the barriers to market participation by increasing industry transparency and specifying benchmarks for DSR providers in five areas:

The signatories to the Code commit to providing clear and fact-based information about their business operations and the energy landscape to all potential clients, prospects and partners. This will help energy users to evaluate DSR providers fairly, and develop trust in this relatively new marketplace.

Dr Tim Rotheray, Director of the ADE, commented:

“Flex Assure, going live so soon after the Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report, will be an important tool for setting industry-wide standards, supporting businesses as they increase their participation in the demand side response market, and accommodating more renewable energy to meet our decarbonisation targets at least cost.”

Wayne Muncaster, UK Managing Director at GridBeyond, commented:

“GridBeyond is proud to have contributed to the launch of Flex Assure, and to be among its first signatories. Over the last couple of years, we have been working with the ADE and other industry participants on the development of this voluntary scheme to ensure the highest standards of transparency and professional integrity. It is encouraging for the industry that GridBeyond’s values are to become universally accepted norms across the sector.

“We trust the Code will simplify the complexity of the energy sector for industrial and commercial organisations. By doing so, more energy users will feel empowered to take advantage of the market opportunities, benefiting their businesses with improved profitability and sustainability. For National Grid, the increase in the volume of flexibility available through DSR programmes is crucial to meeting its decarbonisation goals. Ultimately, Flex Assure is designed to advance the development of a smart grid that meets UK’s future energy needs, and we encourage all DSR and flexibility solutions providers to become signatories.”

The launch of Flex Assure comes just over a month after National Grid ESO announced ambitions to operate the electricity system in Great Britain on zero carbon by 2025, and a few days after Britain went an entire week without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution.

Permanent decarbonisation of the UK energy system requires broad implementation of advanced technological solutions. These solutions are needed to increase the overall flexibility of the grid network, ensure the growing energy demand will be covered by the level of clean energy supplied to the grid (driven for example by the increasing number of electric vehicles).

Based on the calculations provided by the ADE, 16 % of the UK’s peak electricity demand could be met through DSR and balancing services by businesses being flexible in their energy consumption. This could save UK energy consumers £600 million by 2020 and £2.3 billion by 2035.

GridBeyond’s involvement in the development and launch of Flex Assure is yet another step company has taken in recent years to drive increased market participation among energy users by sharing knowledge about the evolving sector, technologies, and opportunities. It is in this same spirit of clarity and simplicity that GridBeyond developed its Academy.

Resources:

  1. Flex Assure, Code of Conduct
  2. Committee on Climate Change, Net Zero-The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming
  3. National Grid ESO, Zero carbon operation of Great Britain’s electricity system by 2025.

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