In 2018, BEIS provided funding to support a range of Flexibility Market Feasibility Studies. Pixie Energy, as part of a consortium including Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council, led a study based on Ipswich. Here, we outline some of the project’s findings.
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Related thinking
Commercial and market outlook
Is the sun setting on utility solar?
The Federal Government has legislated emissions reductions of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030. Sourcing electricity from renewable technologies is fundamental to meeting this, with a much-publicised target of 82% renewables in the grid by 2030 – up from a current value of 38% over the last year. Fortunately, the...
Commercial and market outlook
Patriots ‘Dynasty’ off to a rough start, as New England suffers loss to the MLFs…
For many, the first of April is marked in calendars as a day for jokes and silly nuisances. For the few, specifically the energy industry, we have it pencilled in for the release of the upcoming year’s Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs). Over the last half-decade, movements in MLFs have received...
Energy storage and flexibility
Navigating the Changing Landscape of Balancing Services Pricing Developments
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Energy storage and flexibility
Crying over spilled solar – how much can a battery help?
A standalone battery earns its revenue not only from the arbitrage opportunity between day and night prices but also from participation in FCAS markets. This remains true when the battery is paired with a solar farm but can be complicated by constraints or trade-offs between FCAS participation and solar export....
Low carbon generation
Loy Yang A closure: How much VRE and firming capacity is required to cover peak hours?
AGL has accelerated the closure of the Loy Yang A power station for the second time in 2022, a few days after the Victorian government announced a target of 2.6 GW storage by 2030, increasing to 6.3 GW storage by 2035. According to the AGL announcement, released on 29 September,...
Energy storage and flexibility
Minimum demand projections in Victoria
The surplus rooftop solar provides an enormous opportunity for additional flexible load, where this can be optimised during the day. Electric Vehicles acting at a distributed level (exactly where the surplus is arising) provide the perfect solution if utilised in conjunction with smart metering to assist in mitigating these issues....
Energy storage and flexibility
A tale of two causes: curtailment as renewable records break
Renewable generation records continue to fall in the NEM, with several dropping in succession over the last week. As the amount of renewable generation in the NEM increases (led by a world-leading uptake of rooftop solar), as does the amount of curtailment. As curtailment is essentially wasted energy, minimising it...
Energy storage and flexibility
Feeding the future NEM – Eat some now. Save some for later.
As the NEM continues to transition towards increased penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE), the use of the word ‘curtailment’ has also increased. While curtailments have historically been a natural part of market outcomes (i.e. generators withholding capacity at higher price points), the increased prevalence of curtailment of VRE is...
