Demand response and flexibility platforms

Flexibility platforms enrol sites and assets in demand-response, balancing and capacity services, then dispatch them when the grid needs it. Check which markets they operate in, how they measure delivery and how commands reach the equipment on site.

Platforms in this directory

What to look for

What good looks like

  • Evidence of dispatch, telemetry and control in live flexibility markets
  • A clear account of baselines, fail-safes and operator override
  • Working integrations with BMS, DER controllers, meters or aggregators

Red flags

  • Market participation is claimed with no control or telemetry detail.
  • Override, fallback and settlement are not explained.
  • The pitch leans on AI or optimisation language instead of operating evidence.

Connecting a demand-response platform

What runs on site, and what runs in the platform?

Edge provides the on-site system for device configuration, dashboards, data exploration and local automation. It runs on the Gateway, bringing supported wired equipment and EpiSensor wireless hardware into a common data model.

You can use Edge to monitor and manage site assets without a third-party platform. For participation in a wider demand-response or virtual power plant service, a partner provides the portfolio orchestration, commercial service and market-facing processes. The integration joins those responsibilities, and each party keeps its own.

Start with the demand response and VPP page for an overview and project examples. This guide focuses on the questions to resolve with your platform and site teams.

Select the measurements and control interfaces

Identify the assets first: for example, battery storage, backup generation or controllable loads. Agree what can be measured, what can be controlled and who is responsible for each interface.

  • Demand response: monitoring and control of site loads. Use the demand response page and datasheet to choose the functions the project needs.
  • Electricity monitoring: measurements for the whole site or individual circuits. The electricity monitoring page links to the datasheet and configurations.
  • Gateway: runs Edge on site and connects the devices. See Gateway for communications options.

The datasheets define product capabilities. Programme acceptance depends on the whole installation, so check the programme rules before choosing hardware: the asset, meter configuration, communications, software and operating procedures all count.

Agree the data contract

Before connecting a full site, agree a small set of representative measurements with the receiving platform:

  • Stable site, device and sensor identifiers, with names operators recognise.
  • Units and sign conventions, especially for import/export and battery charging/discharging.
  • Whether energy values are cumulative totals or consumption over an interval.
  • Timestamp, time-zone and reporting-interval conventions.
  • How missing, delayed, duplicated or out-of-order readings should be handled.

Edge sends data through integration flows configured for the receiving platform. Choose the receiving service, authenticated transport and message format together, and before go-live, confirm the platform's endpoint, schema and account set-up with its provider. See integration capabilities in Edge.

Define commands, permissions and failure behaviour

A command being accepted by software is different from the equipment completing the requested action. Agree the whole sequence, including acknowledgement and the measurements that confirm the physical response.

Document operating limits with the asset owner, who may issue commands, how local overrides are handled and what happens when a connection is lost. Configure and test those behaviours for the actual equipment, asset by asset.

For a timing requirement, distinguish measurement sampling, event recording, detection, network transit and physical actuation. Test the complete path against the intended service. Do not apply a response time from one product mode or case study to a different installation.

Check the evidence before scaling

EpiSensor's data-centre demand response project and Dublin Airport project show the roles and engineering involved in specific deployments; scope each new site on its own.

For a pilot, record the selected hardware and software versions, compare received data with its source, verify permitted commands and physical responses, and exercise the agreed loss-of-connection behaviour. Complete the applicable programme qualification before expanding the deployment.

Check how each platform connects

The technology directory lists demand-response and flexibility providers. Confirm with each provider whether it requires its own field controller, accepts a third-party integration or can use supplementary measurements from EpiSensor.

Discuss the data and control requirements with the provider before ordering hardware, with the asset list, existing metering, network constraints and intended service to hand.

Plan your flexibility project Tell us about the assets, the site and the service you want to deliver. We will help define the measurements, control interfaces and integration work.

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