Energy Flexibility

The opportunity of Distributed Flexibility

Decarbonising how we satisfy our energy needs will radically change to the dynamics of the electricity system.

It will create new business opportunities for energy companies to fundamentally reframe relationships with their customers.

Consumers that choose to make the intrinsic energy flexibility of their low carbon technologies available to the electricity system will gain meaningful choices about how they satisfy their energy needs. For the first time, they will have genuine control over their bills by not simply limiting how much they consume, but by managing when they consume.

All this requires greater visibility of what is happening across the whole system.

Identifying the opportunities for your organisation

The businesses that succeed in this new energy system will simultaneously deliver value to their customers whilst managing the risks of investing in new technology.

Success will require new organisational capabilities, new business models, new collaborative commercial relationships and new systems to operate a business.

Whether that is about embracing digital approaches to satisfying customers’ needs or getting timely access to necessary data and developing the insights that enable our clients to succeed in their chosen markets, CGI is here to help.

From billing services to energy services – Energy retailers have the opportunity to change their relationship with actively engaged customers, while rebuilding trust and brand equity by reflecting the costs of electricity when customers consume it.

Accelerating integration of renewable generation and decarbonised demand - electricity distribution and transmission companies have to find new ways to deliver safe, reliable and economic infrastructures that are able to support low carbon supply and demand.

Access the value of energy flexibility – major energy users, such as water companies, have the opportunity to explore their role as a flexibility provider, or even diversify into the electricity retail sector.

Realising the value of energy flexibility

Manage constraints

Accessing flexibility in the power system allows removal of pinch-points (at either transmission or distribution level) by flexing demand, shifting load away from peak times or by distributing and storing power generated at times of lower demand. This means you can deliver power to the right place at the right time, avoid an overloaded network and prevent the issue of low voltage and frequency.

Create new business opportunities

A flexible power system creates potential commercial benefits for the whole electricity sector. Aggregators and energy retailers can determine customer demand, and agree with the network operator at distribution level — or the system operator at transmission level — to turn down demand at peak times (or turn demand up when there’s an abundance of supply), and receive financial incentives to do so.

Balance your system

The electricity system needs to be kept in balance — or risk a shutdown. Generally, to do this, demand is matched with supply in near real-time. Energy flexibility, however, creates new (and cheaper) options to keep the system in balance, such as matching demand to available supply.

CGI and Utility Week Flexibility Forum

We've partnered with Utility Week to launch a major new initiative, the Flexibility Forum, designed to support momentum and ambition in tackling barriers to the development of vibrant markets for distributed flexibility.

Find out more