Our Energy
A purpose-driven innovator focused on creating a better, fairer, cleaner, and more local energy future.
Our Energy is a purpose-driven innovator focused on creating a better, fairer, cleaner, and more local energy future. Our Energy’s first innovation was its development of an independent online platform that connects people and communities with carbon-free energy sources, enabling them to buy, sell, or gift clean, local electricity.
Solution
Flexibility solutions are paramount to ensuring that New Zealand’s energy future is both sustainable and affordable. However, current flexibility procurement methods are outdated and ineffective for modern technologies. For flexibility providers, the current or future local flexibility requirements and their associated value are often unclear. Additionally, responding to these needs can be time-consuming, with rigid processes, which leads to a slower return on investments. On the other hand, flexibility buyers face limited visibility into potential providers.
Our Energy is adding capability and functionality to its existing independent platform to make local flexibility procurement more open, consistent and transparent. The solution allows electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) and distribution system operators (DSOs) to efficiently broadcast and procure local flexibility services. At the same time, it recruits and engages flexibility suppliers to register their distributed energy resources (DER), making it easier for both buyers and suppliers to connect and collaborate.
Impact Unlocked
The platform simplifies contractual engagements, enhances visibility of EDB needs by location and price signals, and opens the door for wider, more diverse participation. By establishing transparent and consistent methods for transacting local flexibility, the platform supports significant progress in the FlexForum’s Flexibility Plan, such as “Defining network services that can be supplied using flexibility” and “Creating easy access to network flexibility opportunities”. Solutions like Our Energy’s local flexibility market is key to enabling the transition to a net-zero and more flexible electricity system.