NG DSO new local voltage flexibility service

National Grid's Distribution System Operator (DSO) is rolling out a new Local Voltage Management service to help handle voltage issues on local electricity networks — the first time it has procured flexibility specifically for this purpose.

Key details:

• It's part of National Grid DSO's annual long-term flexibility tender, opening 21 September, covering over 800 zones and seeking more than 2.8TWh of flexibility — worth up to £4.6 million.
• The round also includes the operator's biggest-ever high voltage flexibility procurement, spanning 99 HV zones.
• The new voltage service will initially target 100 low voltage zones across National Grid DSO's four licence areas.
• Winning bidders get contracts from January 2027, with delivery running April 2027–March 2028.
• The tender is open to aggregators, suppliers, community energy groups, and commercial/industrial players — no minimum asset size, and eligible tech includes batteries, heat pumps, storage heaters, and EV chargers.

A National Grid DSO exec framed it as a trial to see whether flexibility can complement traditional network upgrades, with lessons feeding into future flexibility markets and the next regulatory price control period (ED3). The DSO is also expanding its Demand Turn Up services and running FlexUp for a second year.

What does this mean for EnergyTrace?
This is another sign that electricity flexibility is becoming increasingly local. In the future, EnergyTrace could use your location not only to show when electricity is cleaner, but also to identify when flexibility is needed in your local network — and help households understand how their EVs, heat pumps or batteries could participate.

https://www.energylivenews.com/2026/09/14/national-grid-launches-new-local-voltage-flexibility-service/