Head of npower Business Solutions
“npower Business Solutions welcomes the smarter energy market review – and we are really pleased by the results of this survey, that show a welcome and growing willingness among businesses to utilise flexibility.
These are genuinely exciting times in the electricity industry. Although the mothballing of aging plants provides an undoubted challenge across the country, emergent technologies and smart market applications mean we are increasingly offer the nimble and low emissions solution of DSR.
npower Business Solutions (nBS) has been tremendously supportive of businesses utilising DSR and getting more involved in their energy management. We are proud to be the first energy company to develop an in-house DSR aggregation facility that we will be taking to market in Q4 2016. Our aim is to become the leading energy supplier with the widest range of DSR products in the market place, making us first choice for our customers for all things energy.
It makes perfect sense for both nBS and our customers to be more flexible. DSR is quicker to balance the grid than any conventional power station, requires minimal infrastructure investment, is low emission and offers our customers the opportunity to make considerable savings. Ultimately, the best outcome for us would be for our customers to use the smallest amount of energy they can, at the right time and at the best price.
There will be a lot more opportunity for progressively faster and faster response to the needs of the grid. As a result we are introducing a range of products, managed, operated and despatched by a flexible software platform that will reward customers for their flexibility. We also work closely with our customers’ engineers to make sure that the products we offer are a seamless fit for their site.
There is a range of DSR offerings available, with customers given different notice periods for events that could last from 10 minutes to several hours. In the food and drink industry, for example, there is plenty of refrigeration load that – with a few small on-site additions to the infrastructure – can be used to flex demand. In addition, there is a significant opportunity to include the standby generation located at key installations as another flexible asset. These assets can become a revenue stream that companies can use to reinvest in their site with no negative impact whatsoever; our teams can explain exactly how this works and how it can be made to work, including via demonstrations.
We see DSR as a win-win. It helps cut costs through a reduced need to replace the UK’s aging generation fleet, while providing our customers with new revenue opportunities, promotes network stability, and provides an environmentally friendly option to balance the intermittency of renewable generations. nBS’s role as a DSR aggregator can facilitate all this and we expect a lot of opportunities to open up for our customers. Watch this space and if you want to learn more about the options, pick up the phone to one of our advisors.