We want to increase opportunities for our customers to participate in flexibility and market-based solutions.
Decarbonisation of the energy system is increasing the need for demand-side flexibility.
To support decarbonisation and the integration of intermittent renewables, we'll need greater flexibility on the demand-side of the energy system. Consumer and distributed energy resources, such as electric vehicles, batteries, and hot water rooftop solar, will play a crucial role in our future energy system. These could also give customers and communities more agency over how and when they use electricity.
We need your help?
At Orion, we want to increase opportunities for our customers and stakeholders to engage in flexibility and market-based solutions. We understand the importance of collaboration across the energy sector to support flexibility. Over the last year, we've actively engaged with stakeholders in the energy sector through various strategic and practical initiatives such as Resi-Flex, Lincoln Flexibility Service, FlexTalk , FlexForum and ENA Future Networks Forum.
We're keen to understand how we can improve our collaboration with our stakeholders in the energy sector, and are seeking your input. We'll use this feedback to inform Orion’s flexibility and market development road map and our flexibility priorities over the next two years.
We value your feedback and would appreciate you taking the time to complete a short survey.
Demand-side flexibility is about a customers’ ability to be flexible with when or how much electricity they use or generate. This flexibility can be provided manually by changing behaviour, or automatically using devices like ripple relays or smart devices. Flexibility can provide value across the electricity supply chain, from wholesale market participants, ancillary services, transmission and distribution networks and consumers themselves.
Why does Orion need it? Orion owns and operates the electricity distribution network that provides power to central Canterbury, including Ōtautahi Christchurch, making us the third largest electricity distribution network in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our purpose is to power a cleaner and brighter future with our community. Flexibility can be a cost-effective way to defer or avoid new investment in traditional network assets, which ultimately costs customers, and can also potentially support the decarbonisation of our region. Orion currently uses a range of mechanisms including price signals, flexibility service contracts and ripple control to enable flexibility and reduce peak load on the network. To ensure we efficiently plan and develop the network, it’s increasingly important that we understand other users of flexibility and the impact this will have on network load.
Our activity in this space
This year, we established a Flexibility and Markets Development Programme to coordinate efforts within Orion and across the industry. This programme focuses on:
Strategising for the future of flexibility
Understanding flexibility stakeholder wants and needs
Identifying and valuing flexibility needs
Developing incentives and market settings
Coordinating operation of flexibility
Supporting consistent industry standards and procedures
Orion is currently running the Lincoln Flexibility Service, where we have partnered with Ecotricity to utilize batteries already in the community to reduce network demand at peak times. Implementation of this service will build on knowledge developed as a delivery partner in the FlexTalk trial.
Recently Orion, working with Wellington Electricity, released an expression of interest for flexibility stakeholders to partner on the Resi-Flex project, which aims to incentivise flexibility from residential consumers by exploring commercial mechanisms in collaboration with flexibility stakeholders.
Through active engagement in FlexForum and Electricity Networks Aotearoa (ENA), we are accelerating the transition, sharing insight and establishing aligned solutions to deliver a smart and flexible energy system.
The flexibility and markets development programme works closely with other teams across Orion, including the Network Transformation Programme which is assessing how the Orion Load Growth map could be enhanced to enhanced to improve visibility of network congestion. As we have engaged separately with stakeholders on our pricing strategy and schedules, we are not seeking input on those via this survey.
We want to increase opportunities for our customers to participate in flexibility and market-based solutions.
Decarbonisation of the energy system is increasing the need for demand-side flexibility.
To support decarbonisation and the integration of intermittent renewables, we'll need greater flexibility on the demand-side of the energy system. Consumer and distributed energy resources, such as electric vehicles, batteries, and hot water rooftop solar, will play a crucial role in our future energy system. These could also give customers and communities more agency over how and when they use electricity.
We need your help?
At Orion, we want to increase opportunities for our customers and stakeholders to engage in flexibility and market-based solutions. We understand the importance of collaboration across the energy sector to support flexibility. Over the last year, we've actively engaged with stakeholders in the energy sector through various strategic and practical initiatives such as Resi-Flex, Lincoln Flexibility Service, FlexTalk , FlexForum and ENA Future Networks Forum.
We're keen to understand how we can improve our collaboration with our stakeholders in the energy sector, and are seeking your input. We'll use this feedback to inform Orion’s flexibility and market development road map and our flexibility priorities over the next two years.
We value your feedback and would appreciate you taking the time to complete a short survey.
Demand-side flexibility is about a customers’ ability to be flexible with when or how much electricity they use or generate. This flexibility can be provided manually by changing behaviour, or automatically using devices like ripple relays or smart devices. Flexibility can provide value across the electricity supply chain, from wholesale market participants, ancillary services, transmission and distribution networks and consumers themselves.
Why does Orion need it? Orion owns and operates the electricity distribution network that provides power to central Canterbury, including Ōtautahi Christchurch, making us the third largest electricity distribution network in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our purpose is to power a cleaner and brighter future with our community. Flexibility can be a cost-effective way to defer or avoid new investment in traditional network assets, which ultimately costs customers, and can also potentially support the decarbonisation of our region. Orion currently uses a range of mechanisms including price signals, flexibility service contracts and ripple control to enable flexibility and reduce peak load on the network. To ensure we efficiently plan and develop the network, it’s increasingly important that we understand other users of flexibility and the impact this will have on network load.
Our activity in this space
This year, we established a Flexibility and Markets Development Programme to coordinate efforts within Orion and across the industry. This programme focuses on:
Strategising for the future of flexibility
Understanding flexibility stakeholder wants and needs
Identifying and valuing flexibility needs
Developing incentives and market settings
Coordinating operation of flexibility
Supporting consistent industry standards and procedures
Orion is currently running the Lincoln Flexibility Service, where we have partnered with Ecotricity to utilize batteries already in the community to reduce network demand at peak times. Implementation of this service will build on knowledge developed as a delivery partner in the FlexTalk trial.
Recently Orion, working with Wellington Electricity, released an expression of interest for flexibility stakeholders to partner on the Resi-Flex project, which aims to incentivise flexibility from residential consumers by exploring commercial mechanisms in collaboration with flexibility stakeholders.
Through active engagement in FlexForum and Electricity Networks Aotearoa (ENA), we are accelerating the transition, sharing insight and establishing aligned solutions to deliver a smart and flexible energy system.
The flexibility and markets development programme works closely with other teams across Orion, including the Network Transformation Programme which is assessing how the Orion Load Growth map could be enhanced to enhanced to improve visibility of network congestion. As we have engaged separately with stakeholders on our pricing strategy and schedules, we are not seeking input on those via this survey.
