New focus. New leadership.
The flexibility market is now beyond the conceptual phase and the USEF Foundation has achieved its primary objective – to accelerate the creation of an integrated smart energy market. As a result USEF is entering a new era, where DSOs Alliander and Stedin will continue the work of the Foundation to facilitate market standardization.
USEF has been promoting the need for an integrated flexibility market, to balance energy supply and demand, since 2015. That market is now a reality, with USEF ideas embedded in European directives, and applied in a broad range of innovative, real-life projects.
“In 2015, ABB, Alliander, DNV GL, Essent, IBM, ICT and Stedin joined forces to define a market that offered a level playing field and value to all those involved in the energy system. This could not have been achieved in the same way by any single party due to the necessity to put aside commercial interests,” says Bram Sieben, board member of the USEF Foundation. “The USEF partners stepped outside of regular business boundaries, bringing together a team of specialists to try and deliver something greater than their individual efforts ever could. The outcome of their work has, and will continue to, reap impressive results. Better still, it is available to society free of charge. Flexibility is in progress, in a multitude of market applications and we can all be proud of that.”
With its key objective achieved, the Foundation’s focus is now shifting to facilitating standardization, a role that is best served by network operators Alliander and Stedin as it is one that they naturally play in the Dutch market. For this reason, from June 1st, they will continue further development of the framework, with support from the USEF User Community.