Demand Flexibility Service (DFS)

The Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) was introduced during the winter of 22/23 as part of the winter contingency toolkit. Its purpose in the first two winters of operation was to act as an enhanced action, in addition to the normal electricity market, to be used to access additional megawatts (MW) during times of high national demand, particularly on peak winter days when the system could have been placed under stress.   

The DFS aimed to incentivise domestic consumers and industrial and commercial users through suppliers/aggregators to voluntarily reduce or flex their demand. The DFS has been viewed as a pioneering initiative that allowed households and businesses to participate in a flexibility market, lowering the entry barrier compared to established markets. The service gained recognition in the industry, winning the Whole Energy System Innovation category at the Green Energy Awards and the Net Zero Engagement category at the Utility Week Awards in 2023.    

The DFS is evolving and in its third year we have proposed a few key changes. The DFS will be an in-merit margin service in line with the normal electricity market, meaning that it will no longer be an enhanced action. Details of the new proposals and changes to the service are outlined in the recording below. 

View recording

We submitted our final DFS proposals to Ofgem for approval on 24 September.  Details on our final position on each of the proposed changes, along with a summary of the feedback received from the consultation responses can be found in the EBR Article 18 submission tab below.  Click here for a summary of the submission. Thank you to everyone who took part, the feedback has been critical in shaping our final service design. 

Should you have any questions or would like to schedule a call with the DFS team, please reach out via email.

The indicative timeframe for the consultation is outlined below.

The indicative timeframe for the consultation is outlined below.

Completed Published    Mid-July       August  September-October November
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How to participate

Are you interested in becoming a registered provider?

If you are interested in becoming a registered provider, then please email us

Document archive

Webinars and industry engagement

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Winter 23/24 – End of Year Report 

We have produced a Demand Flexibility Service Winter 23/24 End of Year Report to provide industry with an overview on headline statistics from this winter.  It covers a number of topics including an overview of the service design changes, key learnings, test analysis, commerciality of DFS and industry feedback.

Download the DFS winter review

 

 

Share your ideas on the future of the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS)

Are you interested in the evolution of DFS? Following our recent webinar, please share your feedback and ideas with us on what the DFS could look like moving forward. 

Download the questionnaire summary

 

DFS overview and what's next webinar – March 2024

View the content from our webinar held on 22 March to learn about the performance and use of DFS during winter 23/24 so far and the future of DFS.

Watch the webinar Download the slides Download the Q&A

 

DFS winter review 22/23 – 30 August 2023

DFS Winter 2022/23 review which details the results from 20 Tests and 2 Live events.

Download the DFS winter review

 

Consumer evaluation webinar – 6 July 2023 

The ESO has worked with the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) to carry out an evaluation of DFS from over 23,500 consumer perspectives. This includes who participated, why they did so and how they took part. 

The work also explores the barriers to taking part in DFS and benefits of participating as well as findings of the social research carried out via diaries, opinion poll, surveys and interviews.

Download the slides Watch the webinar Download the report

 

Pre-consultation webinar -  9 June 2023

A recording and the slides from our pre-consultation webinar held on 9 June outlining the next steps for DFS winter 23/24 and sharing our the final design proposals.

Download the slides Watch the recording Download the Q&A

 

Deep dive workshop 3 - 27 April 2023

The third of our series of deep dive workshops, covering process and operational delivery.

Download the slides  Watch the recording

 

Deep dive workshop 2 - 25 April 2023

The second of our series of deep dive workshops, covering commercials.

Download the slides  Watch the recording

 

 

Deep dive workshop 1 - 25 April 2023

The first of our series of deep dive workshops, covering the role of the DFS. 

Download the slides  Watch the recording

 

 

Webinar - 16 March 2023

We ran a webinar on 16 March to provide an update on what's next for the Demand Flexibility Service, covering feedback received to date and potential future options for the DFS. 

Download the slides  Watch the recording Download the Q&A

 

Aug 2023: DFS overview webinar – winter 23/24

Here you can find a recording and the slides from our DFS overview webinar for winter 23/24 held on 7 August.

Download the slides  Watch the webinar

 

World-first Demand Flexibility Service exceeds expectations

Our innovative Demand Flexibility Service has been a great success for participants, delivering a reduction of almost 800 megawatt hours (MWh) throughout events to date, with some companies earning up to £8,000 so far.

Read the news article

 

Nov 2022: DFS launch webinar

The launch of the new Demand Flexibility Service following Ofgem approval on the 4 November 2022.

Download the slides  Watch the webinar

 

Oct 2022: Communications workshop

Slides from the Communications Workshop held on 20 October.

Download the slides 

 

Sep 2022: Post-consultation launch webinar

A deeper dive into the proposed service design for a new Demand Flexibility service.

Download the slides  Watch the webinar

 

Mid-point consultation: questions and answers

A summary of the questions and answers following our post consultation launch webinar.

Download the slides 

 

Aug 2022: Pre-consultation webinar 

An overview of the proposed service design for a new Demand Flexibility service.

Download the slides  Watch the webinar

Data Portal

We've launched our DFS Data Portal where you can subscribe to receive the latest updates and find information relating to both live and test events and datasets relating to the service.

DFS Data Portal

Recognition
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Recognition DFS

More from Demand Flexibility Service (DFS)

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Contact the DFS team

You can email us if you have any questions, feedback, or ideas or want to arrange a call with the team.