An Edinburgh-based subsidiary of a Swiss-owned electricity trader is to become an independent energy provider in the UK, creating a dozen new jobs in Scotland.
Becoming a supplier of electricity and gas for businesses in Spring 2018 will also enable Flexitricity, which was bought over by Lausanne-based Alpiq in 2014, to take its customers right into National Grid’s Balancing Mechanism, currently the preserve of traditional energy suppliers like the Big Six.
The Balancing Mechanism is the real-time flexible electricity market National Grid uses to balance supply and demand.
Spot prices in the Balancing Mechanism can reach £2,500 per MWh, compared to around £50 per MW in wholesale markets. The market is used around 3,000 times per day at a cost of £350 million per year – a cost which is passed on to the bill payers.
By taking the flexibility of industrial, commercial and public-sector energy users right into the BM, Flexitricity says it can give its customers a slice of this premium market, while cutting the cost for National Grid and all energy users.
Dr Alastair Martin, Flexitricity’s Chief Strategy Officer, said: “We work with over 50 organisations across around 20 sectors, and we’re going to keep doing that, whoever they buy their electricity and gas from, from our 24-hr control room.
“But there’s a niche customer base out there who could do more if they had the opportunity. We’re cracking open the most important market in flexible energy for those who can both earn from it and contribute to it.”
13 Dec 2017
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