Decarbonisation Technology November 2026 issue

supplying two billion litres of drinking water a day can find meaningful flexibility, most commercial and industrial organisations can too. While ‘turn down’ participation is valuable, BESS assets unlock even greater returns from flexibility programmes because they can quickly respond across multiple simultaneous markets. This elevates a BESS from a local energy storage device into a resource that can participate in flexibility, trade on the wholesale market, contribute to the balancing mechanism, and provide backup power when needed. However, the full potential of BESS can only be unlocked through value-stacking in a VPP. As with any growing sector, there is a gap between what is credible and what some flexibility partners claim they can offer. Revenue projections should be scrutinised carefully to ensure they are based on sustained market participation across a diversified set of programmes, rather than assumptions about peak pricing conditions. Businesses evaluating BESS need to ask partners about operational scale, forecasting methodology and, most importantly, whether they can demonstrate proven performance. A BESS is a long-term asset, lasting more than 15 years. The right optimisation partner will build a conservative case and over-deliver, rather than promise headline returns that depend on conditions no one can guarantee. Flexing the future The Clean Flexibility Roadmap recognises that flexibility provided by both households and businesses will be central to a clean, affordable, and secure power system. The appointment of a Flexibility Commissioner and the establishment of annual progress forums signal that the government is serious about driving flexibility forward. However, not enough businesses yet realise that their existing operational assets may be able to generate income. Manufacturing processes, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, backup generators, and battery storage are all potential sources of flexibility revenue, not just Capex or Opex. The UK has the potential to be a global leader in grid flexibility. What it needs is for more businesses,

Carlsberg Britvic participates in flexibility markets through its production facilities

working with the right partners, to deliver on that promise. About Enel Enel is a multinational power company and, globally, the largest renewable player, the foremost electricity distribution network player by number of grid customers served, and the biggest retail operator by customer base.1 Enel generates electricity with more than 92 GW of total capacity. Enel Green Power, the Group’s renewables arm, has a total capacity of 67 GW and a generation mix that includes wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power, as well as energy storage facilities, installed in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Enel Grids, the Group’s global business line dedicated to the management of the electricity distribution service worldwide, delivers electricity through a network of 1.9 million km with more than 69 million end users connected to its distribution grids. VIEW REFERENCES

Enel X enelxuk@enel.com