WG 9: Flexibility Markets
Working Group 9 (WG 9) addresses all aspects of market design for power system flexibility. This includes the entire spectrum of market timescales, ranging from long-term investment signals to second-to-second balancing and response. WG 9’s scope also extends to the entire physical system, including large centralized generation and behind-the-meter sources of flexibility within domestic settings and interfaces.
WG 9 considers all the sources of value that flexibility could potentially capture, going beyond MWh to include physical grid characteristics, such as voltage control, repeatability, inertia, locational constraint alleviation. It also includes various market aspects that go beyond trading rules, such as consumer support and how obligations related to grid stability are understood and verified.
Objectives
To enrich and disseminate participant’s understanding of flexibility market design
To create and curate an evidence base all can draw upon to support decision making in the flexibility market space
To further the debate on best practice in market design
Tasks
Flexibility-aware distribution network planning
Lead: Austria and Switzerland (supported by Belgium, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and the UK)
This task explores strategies to consider flexible resources into the long-term distribution planning of network reinforcement, including the potential implementation of local flexibility markets. The advantages and challenges of these approaches will be evaluated and compared. Expected outputs include:
- A fact sheet on the possibilities of considering flexible resources in distribution grid planning
- A fact sheet providing an overview of possible flexibility concepts for distribution grid planners
- A fact sheet or comparison table of local flexibility markets and network reinforcement solutions
- A knowledge exchange webinar
Price signals and tariffs for consumer flexibility
Lead: Ireland (supported by all WG 9 countries)
This task examines price signals and tariffs for consumer flexibility and their role in supporting the flexible operation of grids. A key aspect of flexible grids is enabling consumers to adjust their energy consumption through actions such as turning it up, turning it down, or shifting.
Consumer flexibility is often described as explicit or implicit, and consumers are more frequently taking part in flexibility not just through temporary calls for response but also through engaging with new tariffs and services from suppliers and aggregators. This task began with a stakeholder workshop at ExCo30 in Dublin and will culminate in a short paper on the state of play of flexible tariffs for consumers covering international aspects.
Operational and long-term planning
Lead: Spain (supported by Austria, Belgium, and Switzerland)
This task aims to identify the location of flexibility markets (markets in which flexibility is bought or sold) within the overall electricity market landscape and to review and present the emerging options for coordinating them.
Objectives include reviewing and enhancing market-based coordination among system operators for increased accessibility of wholesale electricity markets, particularly for small local resources.
Additionally, the task aims to review tools and platforms developed to facilitate the coordination and standardization of flexibility markets. The task plans to produce the following outputs:
- A short report on different coordination mechanisms for flexibility markets
- A knowledge-sharing webinar
Published outputs from Working Group 9 can be accessed here:
Working Group Manager (UK)
Rosie Madge
Energy Systems Catapult
