Flex Direct aims to make energy flexibility markets more accessible by creating new commercial arrangements. It will empower social landlords to offer flexibility through energy efficiency retrofits, helping to drive sustainable change.
What is the project about?
Flex Direct aims to close the gap that currently prevents social housing owners, such as Local Authorities, from benefiting from energy flexibility systems by developing new collaborative approaches.
The government is funding energy efficiency upgrades in social housing, including measures like home insulation and storage heating, to reduce overall energy consumption. This shift in energy use, known as peak reduction, is a form of energy flexibility. Currently, the Distribution System Operator (DSO) contracts organisations to provide payments for flexibility. However, barriers exist that prevent social housing owners from taking advantage of this opportunity.
The project will enable UK Power Networks to access greater flexibility, reducing the need for costly upgrades to the electricity network. It will also help social landlords unlock new income streams while supporting social housing tenants, many of whom are at risk of fuel poverty, ensuring they are not left behind in the transition to Net Zero.
How we’re doing it
We are running a series of work packages to collaboratively solve this challenge. Together we are:
Running workshops and interviews with local authorities and social housing providers. These will help us to understand more about their knowledge of energy flexibility and the challenges they face to deliver it. It will also identify options the DSO could provide that would help them on their journey.
Modelling the typical energy saved by different energy efficiency measures. This will allow us to estimate the impact of retrofit work undertaken in social housing and predict how much flexibility it can provide.
Undertaking a ‘cost benefit analysis’ to understand who the arrangement can benefit and how.
Developing a new business proposal, including outlining data and commercial requirements.
What makes it innovative
Flex Direct is exploring new commercial and contractual arrangements between social landlords and DSOs. We are taking the typical approach to energy flexibility and modifying it to make it easier for social landlords to participate, while also building on the learnings from projects such as Socially Green.
To do this, we are modelling the impact energy efficiency measures can have when retrofitted in homes. This will help both the DSO and social landlords to estimate the peak reduction in energy across retrofit schemes without relying on smart meter data.
Flex Direct will not only enable tenants in social housing to participate in flexibility, but also ensure UK Power Networks meets its commitment that no one is left behind by the Net Zero transition.
What we’re learning
Through the project we are learning more about:
Challenges that social landlords are facing to provide flexibility to the energy networks
What more UK Power Networks can do to help local authorities provide flexibility
What information and case studies could encourage more organisations to provide flexibility
How helping social landlords to provide energy flexibility could also benefit the tenants.
Share your ideas
If you have an idea that could reshape or revolutionise the way we work, we want to hear from you.
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