Ara Ake National Flex Discovery Fund
Apply for the National Flex Discovery Fund, which is supporting flexible service providers in becoming visible to the electricity system and potential buyers
Overview
New Zealand’s energy transition and the electrification of our economy requires more than just new generation - it needs smarter, more flexible ways of managing supply and demand.
Flexible energy resources like batteries, electric vehicles and smart appliances can help us reduce peak demand, avoid costly infrastructure upgrades, and enable consumers to play an active role in our electricity system.
For flexibility to deliver on its promise, it must first be discoverable. Right now, much of New Zealand’s flexibility is invisible to electricity networks, the System Operator, and market participants, and remains under-utilised.
That’s why Ara Ake is opening the National Flex Discovery Fund for the second time, to support flexible service providers (FSPs) in becoming visible to the electricity system and potential buyers, and improve the performance and reliability of flexible energy resources in the system
What the National Flex Discovery Fund offers
The Fund offers targeted grant funding to:
- Help flexibility providers become discoverable on an open-access flexibility platform
- Support providers already visible on such platforms to scale or enhance the capacity or reliability of their flexibility resource
- Software development support to businesses engaged in flexibility services that are helping to grow Aotearoa’s flexibility market.
This Fund is focused on reducing the barriers that FSPs -especially small and emerging innovators - face in participating in flexibility markets. These barriers include discoverability, scale and performance, software integration and system testing.
Why this matters
Ara Ake has authored a research paper on the state-of-play in Aotearoa New Zealand’s flexibility market. This paper is written for innovators, industry and regulators that have a role to play in the evolving flexibility market. It describes the current ‘state-of-play’ in the flexibility market and how new flexibility platform offerings work, as well as opportunities and challenges for the near future, and Ara Ake’s role so far.
- Read: Aotearoa New Zealand’s flexibility market: state-of-play (2026) -to come
Ara Ake also commissioned a white paper in 2025 that explored the barriers to flexibility uptake from the innovators' perspective. It found that while innovation is progressing, flexibility service providers face significant upfront challenges and costs in achieving commerciality.
Past recipients of the Fund
Read more about past recipients here.
How to apply
Eligibility
Please read the eligibility and assessment criteria first to check that you are eligible to apply, then apply via the button below. You may only apply for one of the three tracks.
Key Dates
- Applications open: 25 February 2026
- Webinar about the Fund: 10 March 2026
- Applications close: 5pm, 31 March 2026
- Funding decisions announced: June, 2026
If you have any questions about the Fund or application process, contact us at: info@araake.co.nz
Media
- 25 February 2026:
- 8 September 2025: Ara Ake backs 13 projects to unlock New Zealand’s energy flexibility
- 26 May 2025: Ara Ake launches $1 million National Flex Discovery Fund to boost flexibility innovation in Aotearoa New Zealand
