The UK government, NESO, and Ofgem have published a one-year progress update on the Clean Flexibility Roadmap, originally released in July 2025. The update covers four key areas: consumer-led flexibility and markets, grid-scale electricity storage, interconnection, and low-carbon dispatchable power. Key achievements include 7.3 GW of grid-scale batteries and 2.8 GW of long-duration energy storage by June 2026, over 11.3 million smart meters migrated to half-hourly settlement, and progress on hydrogen-to-power and power CCUS projects. New actions include Ofgem finalizing decisions on the first LDES Cap and Floor window by Autumn 2026, government assessing feasibility of flexible tariffs for low-carbon tech support by Q1 2027, and a further interconnection strategy document due in late 2026. The roadmap emphasizes a system-wide approach to procuring flexibility services, with techUK urging competitive, cost-effective procurement that properly compensates providers. For those tracking UK grid decarbonization, this update provides concrete metrics and timelines on storage deployment, consumer flexibility scaling, and interconnection buildout. The focus on removing barriers for virtual lead parties in the Balancing Mechanism and trialing removal of final consumption levies for demand turn-up are practical steps worth watching.
