Summary
Many developments are taking place around flexibility within energy system(s), particularly around electricity network reinforcement avoidance and trading platforms. However, the scoping study hypothesis was that there are also significant gaps in research. As such, the study conducted a literature review to confirm areas that are being considered and concurrently surveyed ISGAN member countries to gather additional thoughts and concerns.
Conclusions were that there are areas that still need to be addressed, namely:
- Integration of trading with dispatch
- Understanding of multiple actors’, requirements (including where those requirements are conflicting) for flexibility and the commercial implications
- A need to identify the characteristics that different flexibility options provides and how to access them
- Interoperable markets to support the development and usage of flexible products and services at scale
- Consumer focused flexibility
- Avoiding stability/security of supply issues through loss of diversity
This report summarises the findings of the literature study and the survey, and explains the thought leadership, to date, in the areas described as gaps above.
