Webinar: Building a Fully Flexible Energy System
The Future of Utilities webinar Building a Fully Flexible Energy System brought together leaders from across the UK and European energy landscape for a focused, hour-long exploration of what it will take to deliver a grid capable of absorbing unprecedented levels of renewable generation. Hosted by Juliette Foster as part of the lead-up to the Energy Transition Summit in Amsterdam, the session examined the commercial, technical, and consumer-facing realities of flexibility at scale.
With speakers from SP Energy Networks, EDF UK, and E.ON EnergiDistribution, the discussion moved beyond buzzwords to interrogate the practicalities of deploying flexibility across households, industry, and the grid itself.
Defining Flexibility in a Changing Energy System
The webinar opened by grounding the audience in the fundamentals: what flexibility actually means in practice. As wind and solar continue to dominate new generation capacity, the grid must adapt to volatility it was never designed to handle. The panel unpacked how flexibility spans:
- residential assets such as EVs, heat pumps, and smart homes
- industrial and commercial demand-side response
- grid-scale storage
- distributed generation and local energy systems
A live audience poll revealed strong interest across all categories, underscoring the sector’s recognition that no single solution will deliver the transition — it will require a portfolio approach.
Speakers highlighted the urgency of the challenge. With NESO targeting 12 GW of consumer-led flexibility by 2030, the question is no longer whether flexibility is needed, but whether deployment can keep pace with policy ambition.
Making Flexibility Work: Markets, Consumers, and Storage
The second half of the webinar shifted to the mechanics of implementation. Key themes included:
Valuing Flexibility
How should flexibility be priced? The panel explored whether markets should reward peak reduction, carbon savings, capacity contribution, or a blend of all three. The consensus: clarity and consistency in market signals will be essential to unlock investment.
The Consumer Equation
Residential flexibility remains one of the biggest untapped resources — but only if households trust the systems controlling their devices. Speakers emphasised the need for:
- transparent incentives
- predictable savings
- simple user experiences
- clear communication about control and comfort
Without this, participation will remain limited.
Storage as a Cornerstone
Storage emerged as a critical enabler of a flexible system, but challenges persist around financing, grid connections, and long-term revenue certainty. The panel discussed emerging solutions, from hybrid assets to co-optimised markets, that could accelerate deployment.
A Global Conversation
With attendees joining from Malaysia, India, South Africa, and across Europe, the webinar highlighted the global relevance of flexibility. While market structures differ, the underlying challenges — integrating renewables, modernising grids, and engaging consumers — are universal. Europe’s experience offers valuable lessons in regulation, market design, and cross-border coordination.
Why This Webinar Matters
Flexibility is the backbone of the energy transition. This session made clear that delivering it at scale requires coordinated action across technology, policy, markets, and consumer engagement. Key takeaways include:
- Flexibility is multi-layered: households, industry, storage, and smart grids all play a role.
- Market design must evolve: clear valuation mechanisms are essential to unlock investment.
- Consumers are central: trust, simplicity, and predictable benefits will determine participation.
- Storage is pivotal: but requires supportive regulation and revenue certainty.
- Storage is pivotal: but requires supportive regulation and revenue certainty.
As the sector moves toward the Energy Transition Summit in March, this webinar set the stage for deeper conversations on how to build energy systems that are resilient, responsive, and ready for a renewable led future.
