Morning, Monday, 25th January 2027
Online
This conference will examine next steps for energy system flexibility in Great Britain.
It will look at the way forward for developing the electricity system to respond more effectively to changes in demand, in response to factors such as the growing role of variable wind and solar generation, changing daily electricity use patterns and local network constraints. Areas for discussion include priorities for stimulating investment in storage and dispatchable power, widening participation by households and businesses, and the implications of change for electricity markets, networks and grid connections.
Overall, the conference will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss the next phase of the Clean Flexibility Roadmap, following its July 2026 update and as delivery of Clean Power 2030 is taken forward. Sessions will consider what is now needed if policy commitments, planned projects and investment are to translate in reality into greater capacity for flexibility. This includes questions around fostering investment and revenue certainty, providing clearer market signals, and the coordination needed across government, regulators, system and network bodies, and industry. Delegates will also consider how progress against the Roadmap’s longer-term objectives should be assessed.
Delegates will explore how participation in flexibility can move beyond early adopter households and businesses. This will include what the growth of flexible tariffs and smart technologies means in practice, how far different consumers are realistically able to change when they use electricity, and what is needed to support informed participation and appropriate protection. The conference will also consider what could help businesses and other organisations take a greater part in flexibility, including where operational requirements limit their ability to respond.
Further sessions will look at how storage, interconnection and low-carbon dispatchable power can move forward from planned or supported projects into full operation. Issues affecting investment and delivery will be examined, as well as what developers, investors and network operators need if projects are to progress. Delegates will also consider how flexible assets can be better used across the wider electricity system as connections, network planning and market arrangements change, alongside implications for security of supply, costs and electricity users.
Consumer-led flexibility, participation & protection
Delegates will consider next steps for widening the use of consumer-led flexibility, looking into how retail and regulatory arrangements - including how electricity use is measured, priced and charged for - need to develop as more households and businesses use flexible tariffs, smart technologies and distributed energy assets.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- smart technologies & interoperability:
- implementation of the Smart Secure Electricity Systems programme
- standards for smart heating, domestic batteries, bidirectional charging and home energy management - interoperability, data security and cyber resilience
- metering, billing & market access:
- completion of Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement - implications for price signals, tariffs and demand management
- participation of aggregated and distributed assets in wholesale, balancing and local flexibility markets - barriers arising from compensation arrangements and supply contracts
- householder & organisational participation:
- strategies for increasing engagement of households, small businesses and industrial and commercial users
- increasing active participation by non-domestic users in flexibility that can be used by the system - public sector procurement and aggregation as routes to market
- passive flexibility and approaches that require less active changes in consumer behaviour
- affordability & consumer protection:
- access for households with limited ability to shift electricity use or remaining on single-rate tariffs - upfront costs and split incentives
- advice, awareness, trust and comparability between offers - safeguards and responsible use of consumer data
- tariffs, incentives & cost recovery:
- development of flexible tariff options - export and demand turn-up incentives - future of the Smart Export Guarantee
- treatment of electricity re-exported from storage - implications of wider policy cost and charging reform
System-wide flexibility, security of supply & investment
The agenda will assess what is needed to increase system-wide flexibility across transmission and distribution networks, including investment, delivery and market arrangements for bringing storage, interconnection and low-carbon dispatchable power into operation while maintaining security of supply and managing costs.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- capacity market & investment signals:
- changes for Prequalification 2026 and the early 2027 auctions - the multiple-price approach for new-build dispatchable capacity
- treatment of cap-and-floor projects, batteries and interconnectors - implications for revenue certainty, investment and participation by low-carbon technologies
- LDES delivery:
- next steps following the first cap-and-floor decisions - requirements for awarded projects to be able to reach final investment decision, construction and connection
- delivery monitoring, supply-chain capacity and future application windows - revenue stacking, technology neutrality, and value for consumers
- constraints, curtailment & system use:
- approaches to making better use of flexible assets when and where they are needed, and reducing curtailment and constraint costs
- improving dispatch of batteries, pumped storage and demand response
- implications for costs and investment of measures aimed at encouraging additional electricity use at times when there is abundant low-cost or renewable generation
- interconnection & low-carbon dispatchable power:
- progress towards increased interconnection by 2030 - future arrangements with European electricity markets
- potential for multi-purpose interconnectors - development of hydrogen-to-power and power CCUS for periods of low renewable generation
Network coordination, connections & strategic planning
Further sessions will look at how flexibility can be better coordinated across local and national markets as electricity demand grows, and how connections, network planning and pricing arrangements need to develop alongside this.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- flexibility markets:
- coordination between network flexibility procurement, balancing services and wholesale markets - DNO procurement models
- the role of distributed assets in reducing constraints and improving system efficiency - Elexon’s role as Market Facilitator in aligning arrangements across markets
- grid connections:
- improving visibility and coordination of flexible assets across transmission and distribution networks - supporting timely connection of storage and flexible-demand projects
- arrangements for large demand users, including data centres - alternative connection agreements and operational control measures
- distribution networks & charging:
- Ofgem’s RIIO-ED3 approach to build and flex - use of flexibility within distribution network planning and operation
- lessons from how flexibility has been used by distribution network operators during the current ED2 price-control period - priorities for distribution charging reform
- strategic energy planning:
- the role of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, Centralised Strategic Network Plan and Regional Energy Strategic Plans
- priorities for informing network development and decisions on the location of storage, generation and demand - treatment of flexibility within future network planning
- market reform & investment signals:
- interaction between Reformed National Pricing, wider electricity market reform and Clean Flexibility Roadmap implementation
- locational and time-based signals - balancing, charging and constraint-management reform - implications for demand, investment and system operation
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade; Ofgem; National Audit Office; Government Office for Science; Ministry of Defence; Ofcom; Office for Investment; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
