Unlocking Local Flexibility - One Market, Multiple Buyers

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Recording of Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | The smarter E Europe Conferences 2026 | Language: English | Duration: 10:14 .

NODES and the Evolving Landscape of Flexibility Trading

NODES is a trading platform that connects buyers and sellers of local flexibility to manage congestion of active power. It serves as a software solution facilitating negotiations between transmission and distribution system operators and sellers like aggregated electric vehicles and industrial sites. Active in regions such as Norway, Sweden, and Canada, NODES collaborates with over 20 operators and supports both research and real-money trading. Distribution System Operators (DSOs) face challenges in attracting flexibility due to competition from well-established markets. Most flexibility service providers prefer the Transmission System (TS) model for its efficiency in managing diverse energy resources and for optimizing operational costs amid regulatory changes. The integration of flexibility markets for energy supply, demonstrated by the FinFlex market, fosters better resource utilization, allowing flexibility services to be traded even from non-participating DSOs. Coordination among Norwegian DSOs promotes access for new participants, while innovative capacity management techniques, such as 'arming', have improved the utilization rates of flexibility services and reduced costs for DSOs.

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Guro Grotterud
Director of Regulatory Affairs and Senior Project Manager
NODES
Norway

As distribution system operators (DSOs) gain experience with local flexibility markets, the focus is increasingly shifting from pilot projects to stable, scalable and enduring solutions. This session will examine what it takes to move from experimental local flexibility schemes to robust markets that can be reliably integrated into system operation and investment planning. The discussion will address regulatory readiness, market design choices, standardization, coordination with other system operators and the conditions needed to provide long-term security for flexibility providers. By bringing together DSOs, policymakers, market actors and technology providers, the event aims to identify practical pathways towards sustainable local flexibility markets that support a resilient and decarbonized electricity system.

Further Talks of this session:

Speaker

Luís Vale Cunha
Board Member, European Affairs, Policy & EU Projects
E.DSO and E-REDES

To Talk

Speaker

Kris Kessels
Senior Researcher Energy Markets
VITO/EnergyVille
Belgium

To Talk

Speaker

Cristina Corchero García
CTO
Bamboo Energy S.L.
Spain

To Talk

Speaker

Rolf Bienert
Managing Director
OpenADR Alliance

To Talk

Speaker

Torsten Knop
European Regulation
E.ON SE
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Elise van Ginkel
Manager Strategic Development
GOPACS
The Netherlands

Jasper Kroondijk
Business Development Manager
GOPACS
The Netherlands

To Talk

To Talk

Further Content
The smarter E Europe Conferences 2026
Panel Discussion of the Session: Turning Industrial and Commercial Demand Side Flexibility into Value

Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 02:30 pm

The smarter E Europe Conferences 2026 | Conference Program

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Industrial and commercial flexibility is no longer experimental - it is becoming a core part of network operation and market participation. Across Europe, DSOs, transmission system operators (TSOs), aggregators and retailers are moving from isolated pilots to coordinated programs that avoid grid upgrades and deliver real capacity and financial value for all participants.This session focuses on the operational integration of C&I flexibility into routine grid workflows through dispatch, settlement, verification and commercial models. It highlights how flexibility is embedded in daily operations: from automated dispatch and verification tools to new contractual models that reward large energy users for adapting consumption. You will gain insight into replicable approaches for scaling flex portfolios, integrating them into control-room workflows and ensuring fair value-sharing across utilities, service providers and industrial consumers.

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