Context and background: Model-based assessments of electricity demand vary in their estimates of the costs and benefits of flexibility. Unlike physical assets, which can be subjected to a test procedure in isolation to collect all relevant parameters to characterise their flexibility, measuring demand side flexibility poses challenges in terms of counterfactual demand and value over different time scales.

Aim: This work will produce innovative ways of measuring demand side flexibility and its value.

Questions and methods: How can demand side flexibility be measured in practice? Which data are available and what missing data need to be captured? This project will review flexibility metrics; analyse baseline methodologies; and develop flexibility assessment frameworks. Novel statistical and probabilistic methods will be developed to assess the impact and efficacy of interventions. Data comprising household composition, occupancy and activity patterns (e.g. METER and SMRP) will capture the diversity of electricity services provided and their temporal dependencies.

Outputs: Working paper on flexibility metrics, statistical toolkit (flexibility index).

April 2020 – March 2021