Flex Forward will identify, prioritise, and validate high-impact flexibility use cases beyond traditional congestion management. The project will provide robust evidence to accelerate low carbon connections, and guide fair investment decisions, ensuring UK Power Networks’ flexibility services remain future proof and deliver maximum value for customers, stakeholders, and the wider energy system.
Benefits
This research project aligns closely with UK Power Networks’ ED2 commitments and supports with shaping the ED3 framework. In ED2, UK Power Networks is committed to facilitating customer access to network capacity and information, supporting innovation in LCTs, and ensuring efficient, resilient network operations. Flex Forward builds on this by conducting research to identify new, high-value uses for flexibility that enhance network performance and customer outcomes.
Learnings
Outcomes
Flex Forward successfully delivered a comprehensive and validated evidence base on the future role of flexibility in supporting UK Power Networks’ ED3 objectives. The project identified, quantified, and prioritised six high‑impact flexibility use cases, providing clear insight into where flexibility can deliver the greatest system, customer, and carbon benefits.
Flex Forward provides several clear potential benefits to customers by strengthening UK Power Networks’ ability to use flexibility as a cost‑efficient mechanism to facilitate the energy transition. The project’s analysis shows that flexibility can deliver faster, cheaper, and lower‑carbon outcomes across multiple parts of the network, ultimately improving customer experience and reducing long‑term system costs.
Quantified Outcomes
The project produced detailed benefit assessments for each prioritised use case, including monetary, carbon, and risk‑reduction values out to 2050. Values were developed using transparent assumptions, validated data sources, and a structured cost‑benefit methodology. The project also delivered a CBA decision‑support tool to enable ongoing assessment of flexibility options.
Performance Improvement
The project significantly improved UK Power Networks’ ability to:
Compare flexibility and reinforcement on a consistent, evidence‑based basis
Identify where flexibility can accelerate connections, reduce costs, and support decarbonisation
Prioritise future trials and operational changes based on quantified value and feasibility
Engage with Ofgem on the role of flexibility in ED3, supported by a robust analytical foundation
The work also strengthened internal alignment by clarifying the specific questions that must be tested to move from ad‑hoc pilots to scalable business‑as‑usual delivery.
What Was Learned
A clearer understanding of the full value stack flexibility can deliver beyond reinforcement deferral
Insight into which use cases offer the highest system and customer benefit
Greater clarity on operational and commercial feasibility for each use case
A shared view of the key questions that must be tested in future end‑to‑end trials
Improved understanding of how flexibility could support ED3 investment decisions and regulatory engagement
Opportunities for Future Projects
The project identified several areas where further innovation activity would be valuable:
End‑to‑end testing of four priority use cases (Faster Connections, LV Voltage Support, Curtailment Reduction, Planned Outage Management) to validate operational processes, commercial models, and system integration requirements
Development of scalable commercial frameworks for flexibility services beyond reinforcement deferral
Enhanced modelling of attribution and deadweight factors to refine benefit estimates
Regulatory engagement to support flexibility‑led approaches in ED3
These opportunities provide a clear roadmap for future innovation projects to build on the evidence generated by Flex Forward.
Lessons Learnt
The Flex Forward project generated several useful lessons that will help shape the design and delivery of future innovation projects.
1. Early alignment on stakeholder availability is essential
Future projects should build in contingency around key review windows and confirm stakeholder availability early to avoid bottlenecks during critical validation stages.
2. Iterative engagement strengthens the quality of final outputs
Stakeholder feedback on the draft report and CBA tool significantly improved the clarity, usability, and credibility of the deliverables. Early and structured engagement, particularly with DSO teams, helps ensure that assumptions, feasibility assessments, and modelling approaches reflect operational realities.
3. Clear “next steps” guidance is highly valued
Stakeholders emphasised the need for actionable recommendations that move beyond analysis to outline what must be tested, validated, or designed next. Future projects should plan from the outset to include practical implementation guidance, not just evidence gathering.
4. Playback sessions support organisational buy‑in
The addition of focused playback sessions for each priority use case helped build shared understanding and prepare teams for next‑phase activities. Future projects should incorporate structured playback or co‑review sessions as part of the delivery plan.
