Balancing and settlement company Elexon wants to set up a market ‘sandbox’ to allow companies to test  innovative products or ideas for the electricity market.

The idea follows Ofgem’s similar approach, which allows for a temporary derogation from existing rules, monitored by Ofgem, and with customer protections in place. Ofgem’s first sandbox invitation brought forward 30 proposals, of which 22 were offered feedback and two are now in process. The regulator recently published a second invitation.

Elexon’s proposal will be put forward at a meeting on Thursday in the form of a proposed modification to the governance code. 

The company said, “We are beginning to develop the Electricity Market Sandbox idea further, and we’d love to hear from companies bringing innovative products into the electricity market: electric vehicles, peer to peer trading, community energy, and any other innovative technologies suitable for testing through the Sandbox.

“With this project, we aim to enable proof of concept testing and remove barriers to entry for innovators, whilst helping the BSC prepare for future changes in the energy system.”