Power exchange Nord Pool has joined with Norwegian energy company Agder Energi to jointly develop a new marketplace capable of exploiting decentralised flexibility. Now Nord Pool says it has “ambitions to have a pilot in the GB as soon as possible, and it is, “actively seeking to find potential distribution network operators (DNOs)  and/or flex providers that are interested in participating in pilot projects.”

The company said a transparent and independent marketplace was needed to exploit available flexibility, capable of providing a link between supply and demand and performing transactions in real time. ”New technology makes it possible to connect entities at different levels of the power system. A digital platform based on cloud technology can use advanced analytics and machine learning to optimise our existing resources.  It also creates opportunities for customers by providing new services and enables greater integration of renewable energy,” it said.

Agdir Energy said, “We see the need for a new marketplace that puts a value on flexibility, regardless of where in the system it is found.” It has developed a working concept together with Microsoft.

Erling Thiis, acting chief executive of Nord Pool, said the two companies would work together to ”help bridging the gap between current wholesale power markets and local flexibility markets.” He added, “This is the start of a solution that we strongly believe will address the challenges seen with an increasingly decentralised power sector – where local power production and consumer flexibility need to work efficiently together.”