In 2004, Dr. Alastair Martin recognised that the United Kingdom’s energy market was heading for challenging times during which electricity supply would struggle to meet rising demand. As electricity consumption rose and as Internet communications became more pervasive, a ripe market opportunity for smart grid technology presented itself, and Flexitricity came into being.

Flexitricity Limited was established to develop new ways of maintaining the critical real-time balance between electricity supply and demand, thereby reducing energy costs and improving the environmental performance of the electricity industry. Today, the company runs the largest live, open-market smart-grid operation in the UK, supplying reserve services to National Grid, which has the overall responsibility for the security of the national electricity supply. National Grid uses these reserve services from time to time to keep the electricity system balanced.

In any electricity grid, energy flows between generators, utilities and customers. In a smart grid, these energy flows are supplemented with real-time digital information that can be used by consumers to manage consumption and costs and reduce the environmental impact of their energy use. Generators of all sizes obtain clear information about the market’s need for their output, and utilities are better able to plan, optimise and secure their operations.

UK businesses that work with Flexitricity gain new revenue and increased asset reliability while supporting renewable energy initiatives. They do this by responding to short periods of high stress in the national electricity network by temporarily increasing generation or reducing consumption. This helps National Grid to secure electricity supplies as both demand and generation vary.

For standby generators, Flexitricity results in substantially improved asset reliability through regular on-load running, which ensures that assets are capable of providing reliable emergency power. Generators which are only tested off load have an unacceptably high likelihood of failure when they are needed most.

By unlocking the hidden flexibility of commercial energy users and small generators, Flexitricity reduces carbon emissions and risk in the national electricity system. Every megawatt of capacity connected to Flexitricity’s smart grid is a megawatt that does not have to be held in reserve elsewhere. This reduces the need to keep coal and oil stations on hot standby or running inefficiently at part load, reducing emissions by between 300 and 750 tonnes of CO₂ per annum for each megawatt provided. Flexitricity provides a low-carbon source of balancing electricity, which will help the electricity system respond to variations in wind, wave, tidal and solar generation.

Flexitricity clients include ExCeL London and Kaaij Greenhouses UK. These companies earn revenue for making their generators and electricity-consuming equipment accessible to National Grid through Flexitricity’s smart grid, and earn additional revenue on the moderate number of occasions each year when National Grid calls for generators to run or for load to be reduced.

Market drivers for the adoption of Flexitricity’s offering include UK legislation like the Climate Change Act as well as corporate social responsibility initiatives, carbon reduction, green power and other environmentally conscious energy efforts. Business energy users who are smart about their electricity use and generation are better placed to benefit from the drive for ever-higher energy and fiscal efficiency. Working with Flexitricity is a prudent response to the changes in energy policy and economics that most observers are predicting.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, Flexitricity is privately held. Dr. Alastair Martin, the company’s founder, is also its managing director. Ron Ramage, formerly of FST Technologies, is the chief operating officer. The board of directors is led by chairman David Sigsworth, former generation director and lead director for the environment with Scottish and Southern Energy. The company’s development has been supported by both Archangel Informal Investments Limited and Scottish Enterprise.

The company and its founder have been repeatedly recognised for Flexitricity’s innovative approach to energy management. Flexitricity’s success in the 2007 Shell Springboard competition (North heat winner and national runner-up) led directly to the establishment of its service for combined heat and power (CHP) generators, now a major part of its portfolio. Flexitricity was named one of the Cleantech 100 in 2008, the same year it was short-listed for the John Logie Baird Awards in its Impact through Innovation category. In addition, Dr. Alastair Martin was named as a finalist for the 2008 Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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