Electricity Demand Turn Up trial: EOI for flexibility providers
This expression of interest seeks Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs) to participate in Phase 1 of a Demand Turn Up trial, testing whether Final Consumption Levies (FCL) rebates can cost-effectively reduce renewable generation curtailment and encourage consumer electricity demand shifting.
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Competition Scope & Overview
This expression of interest (EOI) competition is the first stage in selecting Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs) to participate in Phase 1 of the Demand Turn Up (DTU) Trial. No funding will be awarded through this EOI stage. Successful applicants may be invited to a subsequent award stage. This competition is operated by Innovate UK on behalf of the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The trial is jointly funded UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). For the full trial, UKRI and DESNZ will invest up to £16 million. The aim of this competition is to identify FSPs, including energy suppliers and aggregators, that can participate in Phase 1 of a DTU Trial. The trial will test whether rebating the value of eligible Final Consumption Levies (FCLs) for verified DTU activity can make DTU more cost competitive, encourage consumer participation and reduce the need for renewable generation curtailment. It will generate evidence to inform future government policy on the treatment of FCLs for DTU. Selected FSPs will deliver live DTU propositions through eligible National Energy System Operator (NESO) markets. They will pass the financial benefits of FCL rebates to participating consumers and support the trial’s monitoring, research and evaluation. We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions. In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.
This EOI closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.
Official Applicant Guidance Documents
Electricity Demand Turn Up trial EOI for flexibility providers Assessor guidance for applicants.pdf
This official Innovate UK assessor guidance document details the scoring criteria for the Electricity Demand Turn Up trial competition. It provides applicants with essential instructions on what information to include and how responses will be evaluated across scored questions.
Download Official DocumentApplication Questions & Guidance Brief
Every question below carries specific word limits and guidance criteria.
Project summary
Official Guidance
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.
Scope
Official Guidance
Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.
Applicant location (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.
Animal testing (not scored)
Official Guidance
Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option: Yes, No. We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare. Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.
Permits and licences (not scored)
Official Guidance
Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project? We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date. You must select one option: Yes, No, In the process of being applied for, Not applicable.
International (not scored)
Official Guidance
Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.
Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)
Official Guidance
You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including: a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research; a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act; whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications; a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List. If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this. We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.
Your acceptance of the trial eligibility requirements (not scored)
Official Guidance
To participate in the DTU trial you must confirm that you: are a Flexibility Service Provider (FSP) working in the Great Britain (GB) electricity sector; have an existing customer base of domestic or non domestic electricity consumers, or both; are active in, or able to participate in, at least one of the NESO balancing markets, for example, Balancing Mechanism (BM), Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) and Local Constraint Market (LCM); have the capability to recruit new and existing customers for the trial; can design and deliver innovative DTU propositions that would become viable or significantly more attractive with FCL rebates; can support research and evaluation activities, including the provision of relevant consumer and electricity consumption data and, subject to appropriate permissions, access to participants for primary data collection; are willing and able to work collaboratively with DESNZ, UKRI, NESO and the appointed Delivery Lead, including participating in regular meetings and reporting throughout the trial. You must confirm that you meet and accept all the requirements listed above. If you select no, your application will not be considered for Phase 1. You may provide further information under Question 8 about changes that could enable your participation in a future phase. You must select one option: Yes, No.
Your organisation and customer base (not scored)
Official Guidance
Tell us about your organisation. You must provide: the type of services you provide; a description of your current consumer base, including the approximate number of consumers; the split between domestic and non domestic consumers; the geographical distribution of your consumers; your current electricity market and flexibility activities. You can also provide: relevant consumer characteristics; the size and type of non domestic consumers; any other information that helps explain the nature and reach of your organisation. This information will be used to understand the range and characteristics of organisations and consumers that could participate in the trial.
Trial design feedback and future phases (not scored)
Official Guidance
Provide your feedback on the design of the overall DTU Trial and describe how your organisation could contribute to future phases. You can provide: any aspects of the proposed trial design that could support or limit successful delivery; any suggestions or changes to the design that could increase consumer participation, DTU delivery or value for money; any views on the proposed rebate payment mechanism, including potential operational issues or unintended consequences for suppliers, aggregators or consumers; any other DTU propositions that you could offer during future phases, and the development or mobilisation needed before those propositions could be delivered; any barriers that could prevent or limit your participation in Phase 1 or future phases; any additional costs associated with participation and how you have estimated them; your views on whether some participation costs should be reimbursed, including the possible approach for small and medium sized enterprises; any issues that UKRI and DESNZ should consider when developing data sharing, monitoring, verification, research or evaluation arrangements.
Phase 1 proposition and potential delivery
Official Guidance
What DTU proposition do you propose to deliver during Phase 1? Describe: the proposition and how it will operate; the consumer groups you will target; how consumers will receive and respond to DTU signals; the estimated number and geographical distribution of participants; the estimated DTU capacity and volume you could deliver; how DTU capacity and volume may vary by time, duration and location; the evidence, assumptions and method used to produce your estimates; how participation in the trial and the availability of FCL rebates would enable or strengthen your customer proposition.
Phase 1 readiness and delivery
Official Guidance
How ready are you to deliver your proposed DTU proposition during Phase 1? Describe: your plan for ensuring live delivery on 1 December 2026 and any preparatory activities you will undertake; your approach to recruiting, communicating with and supporting participating consumers; the eligible NESO markets in which you currently participate or expect to participate by that date; your approach to providing the data needed to calculate and verify FCL rebate payments; your approach to providing relevant consumer characteristics and electricity consumption data for monitoring, research and evaluation; the people, systems and other resources available to support delivery; any dependencies or risks that could affect delivery and how you will manage them.
Experience and capacity
Official Guidance
What experience and capacity does your organisation have to deliver the proposed DTU proposition? You can describe: experience participating in electricity or flexibility markets; experience delivering consumer led flexibility propositions; experience recruiting, communicating with and supporting consumers; experience managing consumer and electricity consumption data; similar propositions, products or services delivered previously and the outcomes achieved; experience and capacity to support monitoring, research and evaluation. Provide evidence relevant to your proposition. You are not expected to demonstrate experience in every area listed. We will consider the relevance and strength of your overall evidence.