Press Release

Customers connected to the power distribution network will be able to contribute to the creation of a flexibility market in Rome

The "RomeFlex" pilot project for the procurement of ancillary services through the Flexibility Market (MLF), set up by the GME, the company responsible for the organisation and management of the energy markets in Italy, and approved by ARERA (Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment), has been presented.

"RomeFlex", due to its advanced technological architecture and open market procedures, allows all customers, whose low or medium voltage systems are connected to the distribution network, to modulate their energy consumption and production by offering flexibility services to Rome's electricity grid. The customer will be recognised an economic countervalue according to the service rendered through transparent and inclusive market principles. The aim is to efficiently and safely manage the electricity grid, and thus allow the realisation of a complete, evolved, and inclusive local flexibility market serving all the utilities in the city of Rome managed by Areti, an Acea Group company that deals with the distribution of electricity in the Capital.

The project also aims to contribute to the energy transition process underway, which will lead to a transformation of the electricity sector. This sector is increasingly characterised by generation from renewable sources distributed throughout the territory, as well as by the progressive growth of consumption linked to electric mobility and summer/winter air conditioning using heat pumps.

Areti is the first Italian distributor (DSO) to launch a local flexibility market project managed by the GME. The Flexibility Market is structured in such a way as to allow other DSOs—in addition to Areti—to join, should they express interest in adopting pilot projects similar to "RomeFlex".

The project has been presented today during a workshop attended by the CEO of Areti, Giulio Antonio Carone, the CEO of the GME, Pietro Maria Putti, and for ARERA Andrea Galliani, Head of the Energy Markets Department.