Elexon has revised its plan to standardise Britain’s fragmented flexibility markets, promising simpler access, common digital systems and clearer rules for providers trading across local and national services.
The updated Market Facilitator Delivery Plan covers work from January 2026 to March 2028 and sets out how Elexon intends to coordinate markets operated by distribution network operators and the National Energy System Operator.
Flexibility allows households, businesses, batteries, electric vehicles and generators to change when they use or produce electricity. This can help balance the grid, reduce pressure on networks and avoid some of the cost of building new infrastructure.
However, providers currently face different registration systems, dispatch processes, technical requirements and market rules depending on where they want to trade.
Elexon’s revised plan focuses on creating more consistent market entry, aligning operations, improving market definitions and making it easier for assets to earn revenue from several services.
A central part of the programme is the Flexibility Market Asset Register, which is intended to provide a single registration process for assets participating in local and national markets. Elexon is working on common asset and unit identifiers alongside rules governing how flexibility assets can be reassigned between providers.
The plan also includes a common dispatch API for distribution networks, giving flexibility providers a standard digital interface rather than requiring separate connections with each operator.
Elexon will assess whether the system can be extended to NESO services, which could eventually create one consistent dispatch interface across local and national markets. The design will undergo security assessment, testing and review by the National Cyber Security Centre before wider implementation.
Other work will examine baselines used to calculate how much flexibility has been delivered, the coordination of competing instructions and “primacy” rules deciding which operator takes priority when the same asset is called by different markets.
Elexon also wants to improve revenue stacking, allowing assets to participate in more than one market, where this can be done without double counting or threatening system security.
The plan covers the full trading process from finding opportunities and registering assets to availability, dispatch, verification and payment. It does not extend to the operational decisions made by system operators.
The July review includes revised timings for selected activities, clearer details on what has changed and greater visibility of areas where delivery remains uncertain.
Elexon said industry feedback will continue to shape priorities through its Stakeholder Advisory Board, working groups and quarterly register of proposed improvements.
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