Net Zero and the Energy Transition

Flex Forward

Project Data

Start date:

01/10/2025

End date:

31/03/2026

Budget:

£171,000

Summary

Flex Forward will identify, prioritise, and validate high‑impact flexibility use cases beyond traditional congestion management. The project will generate robust evidence to accelerate low‑carbon connections and inform fair, well‑targeted investment decisions. This will help ensure UK Power Networks’ flexibility services remain future‑proof and deliver maximum value for customers, stakeholders, and the wider energy system.

What is the project about?

Flex Forward will explore how distribution‑level flexibility can be applied to a broader range of network needs beyond its current use in managing congestion and deferring reinforcement. As the UK’s energy system continues to evolve, with growing numbers of distributed energy resources, electric vehicles, heat pumps and variable renewable generation, local electricity networks are facing new and increasingly complex challenges. These include issues related to voltage control, power quality and resilience, not just capacity constraints.

How we’re doing it

The project is being delivered through a structured sprint approach to identify, assess, and validate priority distribution‑level flexibility use cases:

Sprint 1 – Prioritisation
Workshops and stakeholder engagement activities are used to define and refine potential flexibility use cases. A qualitative evaluation framework is then applied to score each use case against factors such as materiality, timing, incentives, and capability. This process produces a shortlist for detailed assessment.

Sprint 2 – Use Case Evaluations I
High‑level quantitative assessments are carried out for the shortlisted use cases, examining potential benefits, feasibility, and attractiveness to flexibility service providers. Findings are reviewed and validated with stakeholders.

Sprint 3 – Use Case Evaluations II
Detailed evaluations are consolidated into a draft report. Stakeholders review these early outputs and provide feedback. While product design is out of scope for this project, key operational considerations are captured to help shape future trials.

Sprint 4 – Final Reporting & Recommendations
The project concludes with a final report that recommends priority use cases to progress to pilots, alongside the enabling actions and a high‑level trial plan required to move them forward.

The project end date has been extended to March 2026 to allow sufficient time for thorough validation of results and to ensure future trials are well‑informed and robust.

What makes it innovative

Flex Forward moves beyond the current use of flexibility, primarily centred on congestion management, to explore and validate a broader set of high‑impact applications at the distribution level. By integrating prioritisation, techno‑economic assessment, and structured stakeholder engagement, it builds a robust evidence base for emerging use cases such as voltage management and enabling faster connections for low‑carbon technologies.

The project quantifies benefits in terms of system value, risk reduction, and CO₂ savings, supporting fair and efficient investment decisions between traditional reinforcement and flexibility‑based solutions. It also embeds consumer vulnerability considerations from the outset, ensuring that the transition to a smarter, cleaner energy system delivers benefits for all customers.

By developing a strong knowledge foundation and practical decision‑support tools, this work enhances the optimisation of network operations, unlocks new opportunities for flexibility providers, and helps deliver Clean Power 2030 at the lowest cost to customers.

What we’re learning

Flex Forward is strengthening understanding of how distribution‑level flexibility can deliver value beyond its established role in managing network congestion and deferring reinforcement. The project is developing an evidence‑based view of whether flexibility can credibly support a wider range of emerging network needs driven by the rapid growth of low‑carbon technologies and increasing system complexity.

Specifically, the project is seeking to learn:

Where flexibility can deliver material system and customer benefits
Identify and prioritise additional use cases where flexibility can improve network performance, reduce costs, enhance customer outcomes, and support decarbonisation objectives.

When flexibility is a credible alternative or complement to traditional solutions
Understand the conditions under which flexibility can be considered alongside — or instead of — conventional reinforcement or operational interventions, enabling fair and efficient investment decisions.

How different flexibility use cases vary in feasibility and readiness
Assess, at a high level, the technical, operational, commercial, and regulatory considerations associated with new flexibility applications, and determine where further validation is required before wider deployment.

What evidence is needed to inform regulatory and strategic decision‑making
Establish the type and quality of evidence required to support future business planning, influence regulatory frameworks and incentives, and guide the evolution of flexibility services within future DSO arrangements.

How flexibility can evolve to address future network challenges
Explore how flexibility can contribute to managing emerging issues such as voltage control, curtailment, network resilience, and the deliverability of network investment programmes as the electricity system transitions toward net zero.

Overall, Flex Forward is seeking to move flexibility from a predominantly tactical congestion management tool toward a more strategic, evidence-led component of distribution network planning and operation, while ensuring customer value, system reliability, and regulatory alignment remain central.

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Project Data