Flexitricity signs Gateshead as first energy supply customer

0
Gateshead’s energy centre combines megawatts of CHP and battery storage.

Demand-side response company Flexitricity has launched its supply business with Gateshead Council’s energy company as its first customer.

The aggregator acquired a supply licence in order to access wholesale markets and the Balancing Mechanism (BM), National Grid’s main tool for balancing UK power supply and demand.

While the company does not plan to become a major business energy supplier, it intends to use the licence to help businesses make more money from flexing consumption up and down, or using on-site generation to help balance the grid across contracted ancillary services, the real-time balancing market and within-day and day ahead power markets.

Flexitricity’s head of supply, Rachel Maitland, said “Flexitricity+ is a disruptive proposition” that would enable it to “maximise the revenue customers can earn from the [flexibility] marketplace”.

The firm hopes to announce more customers in the coming weeks, and is targeting community energy schemes, firms with CHP and other forms of onsite generation, cold stores, gas peakers and battery storage.

Flexitricity signed a DSR contract with Gateshead Energy Company last year to help the firm make money from its flexibility. Gateshead’s energy centre combines CHP and hot water storage with batteries and a private wire (see details here).

While it earned revenue from the Capacity Market and reserve power services, the company’s energy services manager, Jim Gillon, said it also wanted to enter the balancing market, which can pay high prices to those that can quickly react when the system is out of balance.

Gillon said Flexitricity’s BM solution “was the best value option” for the company, which will use the revenue generated to feedback into frontline services.

Flexitricity was a sponsor of the Energyst’s 2018 Battery Storage report. Read founder and chief strategy officer Alastair Martin’s views on maximising value of flexibility by downloading the free report here.

Related stories:

Free 2018 Battery Storage report

Free 2018 Demand-Side Response report

Flexitricity lands £500k funding to bring small firms into DSR, seeks trial sites

Flexitricity to become supplier, eyes Balancing Mechanism prize

Gateshead Energy: Northern heat and powerhouse

Centrica to use Gateshead’s 3MW battery for local and national balancing services

Gateshead signs £1m demand response contract with Flexitricity

Click here to see if you qualify for a free subscription to the print edition of The Energyst, or to renew.

Follow us at @EnergystMedia. For regular bulletins, sign up for the free newsletter.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here