National Grid’s distribution system operator (DSO) has secured its largest ever long-term flexibility portfolio, awarding 196 GWh of availability in its latest annual tender.
That is ten times higher than the A total of 18GWh purchased in the previous tender.
The 2025 tender round that secured 196 GWh closed in November. It introduced wider availability windows and more service hours, allowing the number of eligible technologies and providers to grow.
The results show rapidly growing market participation and the strengthening role of low-carbon technologies, National Grid DSO said.
National Grid DSO is the regional electricity distribution division of National Grid, part of National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED). It acquires flexibility capacity for managing network constraints and integrating renewable energy sources.
In this context, flexibility means the ability of producers and consumers to increase or decrease their generation or consumption in response to requests from the network operator. Suitable technologies and charging points, including electric vehicle (EV) charging, heat pumps, battery storage and any controllable form of energy generation, and demand response (DR). DR simply means anyone who can reduce demand in accordance with a request.
Cathy McClay, managing director of National Grid DSO, said: “This year’s results show real momentum behind flexibility as a smarter, more efficient way to operate the electricity network and ultimately reduce costs for consumers.”
In addition to long-term purchasing, substantial opportunities remain available in the short-term market, which is currently transitioning from a week-ahead to a day-ahead market, National Grid DSO said.
The organization saw a special boost from the new demand-up service called FlexUp. FlexUp saw 52 GWh allocated in 23 high-voltage zones. National Grid DSO is the first to trial these types of services, which aim to reduce renewable curtailment by shifting demand to periods of high renewable generation. Hundreds of millions of pounds are being paid to renewable producers, mainly wind, to stop producing because in some periods of high generation there is not enough demand to absorb their energy.
