Flex Provider Roundtable #2: optimising bidding in DSO flexibility markets

We hosted our second Flex Provider roundtable in July focusing on pricing and optimising bidding in DSO flexibility markets.

Transcript

1. Piclo Flex Flex Provider Roundtable: optimising bidding 8th July 2021
2. Contents • Flex Providers to Flex Providers: top tips ◦ Summary of the tips, guidance and advice shared for Flex Providers participating in DSO flex markets • Flex Providers to Distribution System Operators: market progress ◦ Summary of the recommendations made regarding the barriers facing DSO flexibility market progress • Bidding insights ◦ Snapshot of the market insights from Piclo Flex • New Piclo Flex feature: bidding in bulk ◦ Latest update on the new feature on Piclo Flex that streamlines bidding in large volumes
3. Flex Providers to Flex Providers: top tips
4. Assets 1) Upload your assets early • This is important to do even if there are not flexibility competitions open on Piclo Flex. Once assets are uploaded, Piclo notifies you when there are relevant, new flexibility competitions that your assets can qualify and bid for • You can do this on Piclo by: uploading the asset file. Reach out to us if you are interested in an Asset API at support@picloflex.com 2) Regularly update your asset data • Whether it's uploading new assets or updating existing assets (e.g. an asset becoming operational after having been uploaded as planned) this step will minimise the risk of missing critical qualification deadlines when new flexibility competitions become available • You can do this on Piclo by: updating and re-uploading the asset file 3) Check assets near to the boundary of a flexibility competition zone • If you have an asset that falls outside but near to the boundary of a flexibility competition, check the location again and reach out to us incase the asset is still able to participate at support@picloflex.com
5. Qualification Qualify early: qualification involves several steps and can take longer than expected • Uploading and updating assets: ensuring your asset data is uploaded, up to date and accurate is a key step and often where mistakes can be made. Leave yourself time to do this step carefully and make sure to double-check your data before the qualification deadline • Dynamic Purchasing System: your DPS application must be accepted by the relevant DSO before the qualification deadline. Apply with plenty of time for the DSO to review your submission and to re-apply in case your application is rejected • PQQs: Make sure to know if the DSO requires a PQQ for each flexibility competition you intend to bid for and leave enough time to complete this step • Competition confirmation: to qualify for individual flexibility competitions you need to confirm you want to bid in them
6. Bidding Bid early, edit later: You can enter bids for flexibility competitions on Piclo Flex and return to edit them at any point before the competition closes • Entering bids on Piclo Flex early provides you with the security that you will submit a bid for a competition, in case something happens preventing you from updating them at a later point • Use the latest bid and competition data for your own analysis and strategies Need support? Email support@picloflex.com if you have any questions
7. Flex Providers to Distribution System Operators: market progress
8. DSO flexibility market progress • Low, standardised capacity thresholds ◦ Flex Providers highlighted that reducing the capacity threshold for participation to 10kW for both HV and LV flexibility competitions across DNOs is helpful for smaller assets, aggregators and Flex Providers participating with EVs • Qualification standardisation ◦ The lack of standardisation when qualifying for DSO flexibility competitions is currently a barrier to participation. Different requirements make it difficult for Flex Providers to keep track of what is needed to be done and when. ◦ Flex Providers mentioned that being able to complete all qualification steps in one place would be helpful • For utilisation only contracts, estimates are essential ◦ If there is no dispatch of the service, utilisation contracts are worthless to a Flex Provider. As such, it is difficult to strategise bidding for utilisation contracts without forecast estimates • Contract stacking in future ◦ Flex Providers signing contracts now are not able to revenue stack with other flexibility markets. Assurance is wanted that if these flexibility markets become compatible for revenue stacking in future, there will be room for this to be possible even with older contracts
9. DSO flexibility market progress • Revenue opportunities ◦ For some Flex Providers, DSO flexibility was not the main revenue source. However, even these Flex Providers highlighted it as an important revenue stream to support a business case for their assets • DSO flexibility and Balancing Mechanism ◦ To date, Flex Providers in the roundtable had not stacked BM contracts with DSO contracts, especially for those where National Grid ESO markets were a main revenue stream. There was a general consensus that there had not yet been any crossover with assets participating in DSO flexibility markets and the BM • Dispatch ◦ Flex Providers new to DSO flexibility markets were concerned about enabling the dispatch of their assets before qualifying and bidding for DSO flexibility contracts
10. Pricing & bidding insights
11. CONFIDENTIAL © Open Utility Ltd 12,524 bids 1,954 competitions received bids £47.15 million total value
12. CONFIDENTIAL © Open Utility Ltd £500/MWh average accepted bid (utilisation)* 69% bids accepted ≤9FPs bid per competition *Data is available from the latest bid and competition files **This is not acting as a guide price for future bidding
13. When & where have bids been placed? *Data is available from the latest bid and competition files
14. Who’s winning business? EV Aggregator *Data is available from the latest bid and competition files
15. Product Update
16. Bidding in bulk • Flex Providers are qualifying for increasing amounts of flexibility competitions • Flex Providers submitting bids for a large volume of competitions (~30+) during short bidding windows have found it tricky using the user interface, leading to a risk of not bidding for all the competitions they want to participate in • Problems discovered: ◦ Requires a large amount of data entry in a short period of time ◦ Flex Providers have concerns over the accuracy of their data entries at this scale
17. How we unpacked the problem Brainstorm & validate 3 options explored with some FPs “Bulk bid submission” through a file upload was narrowed down 1 Build v1 Aimed to launch for SPEN’s Spring 2021 competitions 2 Beta release Selected FPs tried the feature and successfully used it to bid 3 Iterate Continue beta roll out Release to all users in near future Please contact support@picloflex.co m if interested 4 * We haven’t forgotten about those who don’t bid into a large volume of competitions 😊
18. Qualifying asset data • Your qualifying asset data is now available in your account: Manage > Qualification. • The file will allow you to see your qualifying assets associated with competitions and will be available for as long as the relevant competition is open • You may want to use this to double check your aggregate capacities per competition and the number of assets qualifying for each competition
19. flex@piclo.energy support@piclo.energy Thank you Stefanos Anagnostopoulos Commercial Manager Meghan Collins Product Manager Matthew Smith Product Manager Gemma Stanley Policy & Comms Manager
20. Copyright Notice Whilst reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information contained within this presentation is correct, the authors, Piclo, its agents, contractors and subcontractors give no warranty and make no representation as to its accuracy and accept no liability for any errors or omissions. Nothing in this publication shall be construed as granting any licence or right to use or reproduce any of the trademarks, service marks, logos, copyright or any proprietary information in any way without Piclo’s prior written permission. Piclo is the trading name of Open Utility Ltd, a company incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 08384033 whose registered office is at 35 Holland Grove, London SW9 6ER. Both Piclo and Open Utility are registered trademarks of Open Utility Ltd. © Open Utility Ltd 2021. All rights reserved. Any queries, please contact us on support@picloflex.com