Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is to work with software company Open Utility, to learn from and participate in its smart grid platform.

SSEN said in its evolution to a distribution system operator (DSO) it will create potential for  peer-to-peer and flexibility trading, creating new markets where supply and demand can be balanced and traded at a local level. Its collaboration with Open Utility will see it trial Open Utility’s new ‘Piclo’ platform, which will help inform SSEN’s development. 

Piclo helps DSOs procure flexible capacity from technologies such as batteries and demand-response aggregators to meet the needs of local electricity users. It is a matchmaking and trading platform for local energy which provides opportunities for customers, generators and other flexibility providers to register their availability and preferences, which the Piclo platform then matches with opportunities from the DSO.

Open Utility has invited other battery operators and demand-response aggregators to join its demand response platform for trials throughout 2018 as part of a project funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Companies can register their assets at Open Utility’s website.

Steve Atkins, DSO Transition Manager for SSEN, said: “As we continue the transition to a DSO, working in collaboration with key partners such as Open Utility will be crucial to learn the lessons required to support the shift to a smarter, flexible energy system that importantly, delivers for all customers.”

James Johnston, chief executive and co-founder of Open Utility, said: “Unlike other industries like short-term rentals and taxi services, the energy sector cannot be transformed by an online marketplace acting alone, but through meaningful partnerships with incumbents working towards a common goal.”