BeFlexible Project

The main objective of the BeFlexible External link, opens in new window. project, financed through the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme, is aimed at promoting the participation of prosumers through the implementation of strategies, regulatory proposals and new business models. These actions will serve to promote new flexibility services from generators, consumers and electricity storage. In this way, BeFlexible aims to increase the flexibility of the European electricity system as a whole – a key driver for a much more efficient use of electricity grids. 

This initiative, led by our energy distributor i-DE, is progressing successfully thanks to a consortium of 21 partners and three affiliated entities from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Denmark. Iberdrola – world leader in renewables – is joined by Distribution System Operators (DSOs), Transmission System Operators (TSOs), aggregators, research and development centres, universities and industrial technology providers. This consortium provides a multi-sectoral approach covering the entire value chain of energy systems and related cross-sectoral services.

Following the first year's progress in establishing the necessary procedures, BeFlexible will carry out twelve pilots in Italy, Sweden, Spain and France. The aim is to demonstrate the versatility of the concept in different environments – from different types of energy consumers to different geographical and climatic areas – and to assess the impact of the proposed services, platforms and architectures.

This network project  – with a budget of 10 million euros and a timeframe of four years from its start in 2022  – contributes to the energy transition by orienting the market to be more modern, sustainable and adaptable in order to integrate a greater proportion of clean energy sources and accelerate the electrification of some energy uses, such as electric mobility or some thermal processes such as heating. This is a transformation in line with the European Union's commitments in the fight against climate change and the promotion of renewable energy sources. 

To this end, the BeFlexible project is based on four main blocks:

• Market and Regulatory Analysis: A flexible framework for new business opportunities will be implemented.

• Ecosystem of services: A wide range of flexibility solutions and cross-cutting services will be offered to end-users.

• Platforms and Architectures: A Business and Data Network (GDBN) and system architecture will be implemented to ensure full data interoperability.

• Customer Involvement: A social co-creation approach will be adopted to meet consumer needs.

Iberdrola, a world leader in smart grids

Smart grids are essential for our renewable energy to reach consumers safely and efficiently in any country in the world. At Iberdrola, we operate one of the most important distribution systems in the world and we continue to work on its modernisation, digitalisation and automation. 

For this reason, in our Strategic Plan, we are focusing on smart grids in addition to renewable energies. To sum up, the company plans to invest €21.5bn in grids in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain, which represents 60% of net investment. 

Green light for the electricity superhighway

Ofgem, the UK regulatory authority, has given the green light for the Eastern Green Link 1 project in November 2024. This news comes at a time when SP Energy Networks' Branxton substation has been given the go-ahead. 

This substation will connect both the Eastern Green Link 1 project and a proposed offshore wind farm in the area. Work at Branxton, East Lothian, will begin in 2025. 

Eastern Green Link 1 is part of a multi-million pound investment in the UK's transmission infrastructure, providing routes for new green electricity from offshore wind farms to travel across the UK to connect to homes and businesses. Without this investment, there will be no way to transport the significant amount of clean electricity that the UK hopes to build in the North Sea to electricity users. 

Contracts worth around £1.8 B have been awarded to carry out the project, including £750 M with Prysmian Group to supply the UK's first 525 kV HVDC power transmission cable. 
The contracts are expected to give a significant economic boost to the UK during construction, with major works and components to be supplied by UK-based industries.

SP Energy Networks and National Grid Electricity Transmission already own and operate the Western Link, the world's largest capacity and one of the longest submarine cables, connecting Hunterston in Scotland to Connah's Quay in Wales. Operational since 2017, the link created more than 450 jobs during planning and development and has transmitted more than 30,000 GWh of electricity during its first five years of operation, enough to power every home in Wales during that same period.