Leeds tech consultancy appointed to build national flexible energy market digital platform

Leeds tech consultancy, Parallax, has been appointed by Elexon – the recently appointed market facilitator for the flexibility markets in Great Britain’s electricity system – to develop a major national digital platform to enable industry-wide access to, governance of, and compliance with the new Flexibility Market Rules (FMR).

Parallax will design and build a secure digital platform that will serve as the authoritative source of market rules, data definitions and compliance processes for all stakeholders – from farmers installing wind turbines, to energy operators installing a large battery farm.

The energy flexibility market is the system that pays consumers, businesses, and generators to adjust their electricity usage – shifting, reducing, or increasing demand – to balance the grid and reduce strain on the network. It enables households, businesses, and providers to power a smarter, cleaner, and more efficient energy system and supports the UK’s Net Zero goals. The UK’s flexibility market is the biggest in the world.

READ MORE: Rise of the robots as Sheffield firm’s AI Trainer promises “tectonic shift” in robotics

Parallax’s appointment follows Elexon’s introduction of a new set of standardised rules, governance structures and market frameworks in December 2025 to support the development and coordination of flexibility markets across transmission and distribution networks. These rules underpin how system operators and flexibility providers participate in and deliver services essential to a secure, low-carbon electricity system.

The new platform will help Elexon to operationalise this framework at scale and provide structured access to the latest rules, enabling users to submit data and evidence compliance and facilitating greater transparency for all parties, supporting Elexon’s aim to make it simpler to operate in the market. It is scheduled to go live in October 2026.

The appointment comes after a landmark year of growth for Parallax in 2025, leading to its biggest ever financial forecast for 2026.

Dario Grandich, co-founder and director at Parallax, said: “We’re proud to be supporting a programme of national importance that underpins the UK’s transition to a more flexible, low-carbon electricity system.

“The platform we’re building goes far beyond a traditional website or repository. It combines structured rule content, compliance workflows and ontology-driven search to make complex market frameworks usable at scale. AI-assisted discovery will help participants understand how rules apply to them and what actions are required, while giving Elexon deep insight into adoption and compliance across the market.”

Steven Gough, head of flexibility at Elexon, added: “Digitisation is central to how we deliver our role as market facilitator. This new platform replaces fragmented processes with a coordinated, transparent and scalable environment that gives stakeholders clarity and enables us to monitor implementation more effectively.

“Our goal is to increase participation and accelerate the growth of flexibility markets to support the transition to clean power, and this platform is a critical enabler of that ambition. This is a complex programme with an ambitious timeline, so we needed a partner with proven technical and information-security expertise as well as the agility to deliver at pace, and Parallax brings exactly that.”

Subscribe to the Prolific North Daily Newsletter Today!

Want all the latest content from Prolific North delivered direct to your inbox daily? Of course you do!

Related News