IN Brief:
- More than 11.3 million smart meters had migrated to half-hourly settlement by mid-June.
- Sixteen proposed long-duration storage projects represent 7.6GW and 137GWh of capacity.
- New work covers demand turn-up, bidirectional charging, appliance interoperability, and non-domestic flexibility.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published its July 2026 update to the Clean Flexibility Roadmap, setting out progress across storage, demand response, smart charging, settlement, interconnection, and low-carbon dispatchable generation.
More than 11.3 million smart meters had migrated to market-wide half-hourly settlement by the middle of June. Around one-third of Britain’s electricity metering systems now operate under the new arrangements, with completion of the migration programme scheduled for May 2027.
Half-hourly settlement gives suppliers a more accurate view of when electricity is consumed and strengthens the basis for time-of-use tariffs. It also increases dependence on reliable meter communications, accurate data processing, forecasting, and billing systems capable of handling more granular consumption records.
Grid-scale battery capacity reached 7.5GW at the end of 2025 after 2.3GW was energised during the year. Ofgem’s first long-duration storage process includes 16 projects representing 7.6GW of power and 137GWh of stored energy across pumped hydro, lithium-ion, compressed-air, and vanadium-redox technologies.
Average skip rates in national flexibility markets have also fallen. Battery skip rates declined from 49% in the first half of 2025 to 38% during the same period of 2026, while pumped-storage skip rates moved from 59% to 49%.
A skipped action occurs when an available balancing bid or offer is not dispatched despite appearing economically competitive. Lower skip rates improve confidence that flexible assets can reach the available system value, although transmission constraints and operational requirements will continue to influence dispatch.
Flexible demand moves towards routine operation
NESO is targeting an additional 750MW of industrial and commercial flexibility in its markets by 2030. Engagement during 2026 has identified more than 140 potential business participants, moving the programme towards feasibility assessment, metering design, controls, and market onboarding.
Demand turn-up forms another strand of the roadmap. Rather than paying renewable generators to reduce output during periods of transmission constraint, controllable loads can increase consumption in the affected region or settlement period. A £20 million trial beginning in winter 2026 will examine whether removing final-consumption levies improves the economics of that approach.
Industrial heating, electrolysis, refrigeration, pumping, thermal storage, and battery charging could all provide demand turn-up where operating processes allow. Participation depends on accurate baselines, suitable metering, automated controls, contractual access, and a clear definition of the load that can be moved without disrupting production.
Bidirectional electric-vehicle charging is progressing through work on communications standards, connection processes, and the treatment of electricity exported from vehicles and domestic batteries. Primary legislative powers are planned to remove final-consumption levies from re-exported electricity, subject to consultation and secondary legislation.
An automated vehicle-to-grid trial addressing plug-in availability is examining one of the practical limits on dependable vehicle capacity. Commercial operation requires predictable connection, customer consent, battery-management integration, interoperable equipment, and a market value sufficient to justify additional cycling.
The Smart Secure Electricity Systems programme is developing licensing and technical arrangements for energy-smart appliances. Planned requirements cover electric heating, batteries, EV chargepoints, load controllers, and flexibility-service providers, with interoperability, cyber security, and consumer protection built into the regulatory framework.
Distribution regulation is moving towards a combined build-and-flex approach under RIIO-ED3. Network companies will be expected to procure flexibility where it provides an efficient alternative, while continuing conventional reinforcement where demand growth produces an enduring need for capacity.
Britain currently has 10.3GW of electrical interconnection. The 1.4GW NeuConnect link is expected to enter operation in 2028, and the government is targeting between 12GW and 14GW by 2030. Interconnectors provide access to geographically diverse generation and demand, although their contribution varies with market prices, network availability, and simultaneous weather patterns.
The roadmap draws settlement reform, appliance standards, storage, industrial flexibility, charging, and interconnection into a common delivery programme. Progress across one area can be limited where another remains incomplete, particularly when equipment, communications, metering, market rules, and connection processes must operate together.
Implementation will increasingly be measured through active capacity: meters migrated, storage connected, industrial loads enrolled, bidirectional chargers commissioned, and flexible actions dispatched. Those operating figures will show how far clean flexibility has moved beyond trials and into routine system management.
