Leading Flexibility Innovation at Energised Futures

At Energised Futures, I lead two of our six research pillars: Flexibility and Markets. They’re distinct themes, but they’re also deeply intertwined, and together they answer one of the biggest questions of the energy transition: “How do we cost‑effectively and safely, integrate rapidly growing decentralised energy resources into modern power markets?”

Markets give us the system‑level view of what actions the system needs, how much each action is worth, and who gets to participate and under what conditions. Flexibility is where things get more granular - how individual assets, technologies, and consumers can support the system in real time. 

Flexibility has rapidly shifted from a niche topic to something everyone is paying attention to. It’s at the front line of the transition with batteries, EVs, smart heating, virtual power plants and demand response reshaping how our modern power systems operate.  

So, with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the future of Flexibility and its critical role in the energy system.

What Is Energy Flexibility and Why Does It Matter? 

To give you a simple analogy, imagine you’re a driver navigating a busy city street. Traffic lights change unexpectedly, pedestrians step off curbs, and cars merge without warning. What keeps you safe and moving forward isn’t just how fast your car can go - it’s how maneuverable it is. Your ability to brake smoothly, accelerate when there’s an opening, and steer quickly around obstacles makes all the difference. 

Now swap the car for an energy system. 

In the energy world, maneuverability shows up as Flexibility. Instead of steering wheels and brakes, we’re talking about generators that can ramp up or down, batteries that can charge or discharge, and consumers that can shift when they use power. The road conditions in this case are fluctuating demand, variable renewable generation, and sudden grid disturbances. 

This Flexibility is becoming more important as the number of smart assets connected to the grid continues to grow. Electric vehicles, home batteries, heat pumps, and solar panels are no longer niche technologies, they are rapidly becoming part of everyday life. On their own, one device might make only a small difference. But when hundreds of thousands of these devices are connected, they can form decentralised networks that support the grid in real time, responding collectively to changes in supply and demand. 

A rigid energy system is like a long truck with poor handling, it might carry a lot of power, but it struggles to respond quickly. A flexible energy system, on the other hand, behaves like a compact, agile car. It adapts smoothly to change by absorbing excess solar at noon, responding to evening peaks, or stabilizing the grid when the wind drops. 

Just as maneuverability matters more than top speed in real-world driving, energy flexibility matters more than raw capacity in modern power systems. As renewable energy grows and demand becomes more dynamic, the ability to respond quickly and intelligently becomes essential. 

What’s the Next Big Challenge in Flexibility Research? 

If the last decade was about unlocking flexible technologies, the next one is about making them work together. Connectivity, coordination, and real customer engagement are the real frontier now. 

The grid was never built for today’s swarm of smart devices. EV chargers, heat pumps, home batteries, solar inverters all trying to talk, transact, and react in real time. To keep the system stable (and to deliver genuine savings to customers), these devices need to connect to the grid seamlessly, speak a common language, and switch providers or tariffs without locking people into proprietary walled gardens. In this context, work like Ofgem’s flexibility digital infrastructure will be essential in the UK to ensure fair market access, open APIs, and transparent rules that prevent the system from becoming a patchwork of closed ecosystems. 

But interoperability is only half of the story. We also need to fix the long-standing misalignment between local distribution networks (DSOs) and the national transmission system (TSO). Today, regulatory and technical gaps often mean local flexibility can help the national system while accidentally creating congestion next door. Closing those gaps, so flexibility serves both local and national needs without friction, is one of the most critical challenges ahead. 

And the technology landscape is only getting more exciting. Emerging innovations like vehicle‑to‑everything (V2X), DC microgrids, and renewable energy communities are empowering households and businesses to become active players in the energy transition, not just passive consumers. 

How do Flexibility and Markets work together? 

Flexibility and Markets are two halves of the same system, each shaping how the other behaves. Think of it this way: Flexibility is the system’s capability to respond; Markets are the mechanism that decides when and why those responses happen. 

Flexibility is about responsiveness, control, and real‑time balance. It’s the ability of devices and consumers to adjust demand or generation in seconds or minutes. When the grid is under stress, Flexibility provides stabilising action, e.g., shifting a heat pump cycle, charging or discharging a battery, and modulating an EV charger.  

Markets are the system’s orchestrator, coordinating and pricing flexibility so it’s used in the most efficient way. They set the incentives, define the rules, and ensure every action (no matter if fast or slow) fits into a wider grid operation plan. Markets allocate when Flexibility should act, how it competes with other resources, and what its contribution is worth. 

What I love about this relationship is that it sits at the intersection of engineering and economics. It’s also technical, behavioural, financial, and human - all at once. 

Flexibility Needs a Consumer-First Approach 

For most households, energy has always been a passive experience. You flip a switch, the lights come on, and the bill arrives at the end of the month. But as the energy system becomes smarter and more complex, we’re suddenly asking people to do far more: adopt electric heating, understand new flexibility tariffs, shift when they use electricity, and manage devices like EV chargers or home batteries. Add in technical jargon and confusing guidance, and it’s easy to see how people can feel overwhelmed before they’ve even started. 

And that brings us to today’s biggest barrier in Flexibility: the end‑user journey is far too complicated. A single flexible service might require dealing with installers, suppliers, apps, tariffs, platforms, consent forms, and various market actors. If we want Flexibility at scale, that whole journey - from device purchase to installation, tariff selection, and activation - needs to be simple, transparent, and predictable. 

The solution isn’t to expect everyone to become an energy expert, it’s to make the experience intuitive and consumer-centric. Think of an energy model that feels as seamless as your favourite streaming service: an energy‑as‑a‑service approach where things “just work,” whether a customer wants to actively participate or prefers everything automated in the background. That’s exactly where our Engagement pillar comes in.  

So now you know more about Flexibility, get to know Aleksei: 

Why did you choose an energy career? 

My path into the energy world was shaped by two things. First, I’ve always had an analytical mind paired with a stubborn desire to solve the hard problems. Second, my father, an electrical engineer himself, introduced me early to the strange and fascinating universe of transformers, substations, and power networks. I grew up around the language of lines and loads, and something about that stuck with me. That curiosity pushed me far beyond my starting point. I followed the trail across Europe, studying and working in Russia, Finland, the UK, and now Belgium. Experiencing different energy systems firsthand was eye‑opening. Each country has its own technical realities, cultural expectations, and policy ecosystems. Seeing these differences has been one of the most valuable parts of my journey. 

I’ve spent about 15 years in the world of power systems, counting the university years, the academic research, and now my industrial career. And even after all this time, the field never stops surprising me. Power systems are one of those rare domains where the deeper you go, the more layers of complexity you uncover. 

What Sparked the Move from Academia to Industry? 

While I valued the depth and rigour of the academic environment, I felt that the scale was missing. Most academic projects stay in the lab or small pilots. I wanted to see real-world impact - solutions that reach customers and make a real-life difference. That’s what drew me to the industry. Many of my EnergisedFutures colleagues have PhDs, and those smart people are here because they want their work to matter outside of papers and conferences. 

What Advice Do You Have for Future Innovators? 

I still believe that a solid foundation in STEM disciplines is a prerequisite for a successful career in the power sector. Once you have the foundation, the next step is to find a role that maximizes your natural talents and brings you joy from day-to-day accomplishments. In any case, don’t be afraid to pivot. The energy sector is evolving fast, and there’s room for all kinds of thinkers.