By Helen Gardner, Flexibility Lead, npower Business Solutions (nBS)
For years, most businesses approached energy with a familiar mindset: buy well, use less, and keep a close eye on cost. Those principles still matter, but they no longer tell the whole story. Flexibility is now more than a ‘nice to have’, is a core part of good energy management, a practical tool that businesses can use today.
This is being driven, in part, by the UK’s clean power transition, which will deliver long-term benefits but place fresh pressure on energy costs in the near term. In particular, businesses are likely to feel the impact of rising non-commodity charges, which cover the policy, network, and system costs required to build and operate the changing electricity system.
Against that backdrop, flexibility is one of the most practical levers businesses have at their disposal.
How businesses can unlock flexibility
Energy flexibility involves changing when and how businesses use or generate electricity to support the wider system. That could mean shifting demand away from peak periods, making better use of on-site assets, or responding to wholesale electricity price signals.
One reason flexibility remains underused is that many organisations do not realise they already have the assets needed to participate.
While technologies such as battery storage and on-site generation can enhance flexibility, many opportunities already exist within day-to-day operations. Machinery, heating and cooling systems, refrigeration, and production processes can all represent sources of flexible demand. Flexibility is less about what assets you add and more about how you use what you already have.
In practice, this often comes down to a combination of operational and behavioural changes. Shifting when certain processes run, adjusting equipment cycles, or using on-site assets more effectively can all allow businesses to reduce demand at key times without affecting performance. In many cases, relatively small changes can unlock valuable flexibility.
Using flexibility to generate revenue
Flexibility can help businesses manage costs, and it can also help generate new commercial opportunities.
The range of schemes available has grown considerably, such as the Balancing Mechanism, where participants adjust consumption in real time to help balance supply and demand, or the Demand Flexibility Service, which rewards reductions in electricity use during peak periods. By participating in schemes like these, organisations can generate additional revenue that helps offset the increasing cost burden associated with clean power.
The time to act is now
Businesses should start their flexibility journey by understanding how they use energy. Improving data visibility and identifying key energy-consuming assets can reveal opportunities to shift demand or optimise processes. From there, organisations can work with their energy partner to identify the most appropriate flexibility schemes for their operations.
Businesses getting the most value from flexibility are those that have a clear picture of their own energy use. By mapping flexible capacity now, those businesses will also be in the strongest position to act as the market develops, and that market is moving quickly.
For those looking to explore the opportunity in more detail, our Flexibility: Facts versus Fiction guide sets out some of the most common misconceptions and highlights practical ways to get started.
You can also watch our recent webinar on demand here.
