Data-driven Flexibility Market Platform to manage electricity network demand
- A fully integrated, data-driven platform built for scale, flexibility, and compliance
- Exceptional user experience in a complex sector
- A strategic tool for the UK’s Net Zero transition
The ambition
The Distribution System Operator (DSO) team within National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) was established in 2023 with the ambition to enable and coordinate a smart, flexible energy system that facilitates local decarbonisation across the West Midlands, East Midlands, Mid and South Wales and the South West.As part of this ambition, DSO must manage growing electricity network demand while keeping costs down for customers and communities. Flexibility is a key tool in this by encouraging customers, both domestic and commercial, to adjust how and when they use electricity.
When NGED first approached Enigma, the brief was bold - to build an intelligent, flexible digital platform that would place the organisation at the forefront of a new, smarter electricity system.
National Grid wanted to lead the way in how the UK’s Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) support energy flexibility, and the ambition was to make it easier for businesses and individuals to participate in the market by engaging in energy procurement, responding to demand, and ultimately helping to drive decarbonisation. Due to the complexity of the UK’s electricity market, seamless systems integration both with NGED and existing flexibility market aggregators was a key consideration. Furthermore, it needed the user interface to be clear and intuitive for ease-of-use by a range of users, and the platform needed to be heavily data-driven to account for updates to industry requirements and changes to the type of demand that is procured for.
Our product, Market Gateway, is a powerful, data-led platform capable of evolving in line with industry regulations, integrating with multiple systems, and supporting a seamless user experience for participants navigating complex energy processes.
Originally launched as a pre-qualification platform to onboard suppliers, it has since evolved, through iterative collaboration and ongoing development, into a full trading platform used across the sector to facilitate bidding, contracting, and real-time and future flexibility services.
From the outset, the project was underpinned by a guiding principle - built for flexibility. That vision has shaped every stage of development, from the initial stakeholder workshops and prototyping through to today’s continuous improvement model. Now embedded in a wider programme of work, Market Gateway continues to evolve, backed by ongoing support from the Enigma team.What we did
System Integration at scale
Market Gateway’s powerful back-end integration connects it directly to NGED’s internal business systems, as well as external market aggregators used across the sector. These two integrations sit at the core of the platform:
- Internal integration ensures that all relevant business data is synced in real-time, powering the front end and governing user access, trade logic, and eligibility.
- Market aggregator integration allows for trade opportunities, uploaded by any UK DNO, to be surfaced directly within Market Gateway. Organisations can respond to these opportunities based on capacity, location and need.
The result is a seamlessly connected platform that brings together data, decision-makers, and demand.
A Platform Driven by Data
Market Gateway is powered by robust integration with National Grid’s internal systems. The platform is driven by NGED’s live data which ensures that when industry standards change, updates to underlying datasets automatically flow through to the platform, keeping it aligned with the latest guidance from OFGEM and others, without needing to rebuild functionality.
This approach gives National Grid the flexibility to respond at pace to regulatory or operational changes, something that’s essential in a market as dynamic as utilities.
Self-managed access and roles
Participants on the platform can manage their own organisation accounts, add new users, and assign appropriate permissions, giving businesses the autonomy they need while protecting against compliance risks by ensuring only authorised users can sign up to binding declarations or contracts.
For organisations with larger teams, this feature delivers crucial peace of mind, reducing administrative friction without compromising on control.
Supporting Strategic Decarbonisation
The platform plays a direct role in supporting the UK’s path to net zero. By enabling distributed energy resources to be traded more efficiently, and making it easier for participants to engage, Market Gateway is helping to shift usage patterns and unlock greater value from underused capacity.
Whether it’s a farm generating excess wind energy or a factory able to reduce its demand at peak times, the platform connects supply and need in real time, creating smarter usage, greater resilience, and a cleaner grid.
User experience built for clarity
Electricity flexibility is a complex field, but it was important that that complexity didn’t reach the user interface. Enigma worked closely with stakeholders to develop a clean, intuitive user journey that demystifies the process and supports confident use.
Key UX features include:
- A clear, step-by-step progress bar to guide users through onboarding, bidding, and qualification
- Straightforward navigation and labelling which avoids jargon
- Visual design and content decisions shaped by putting the user first, ensuring the platform works for both seasoned energy professionals and first-time users
Terminology that opens up accessibility
Precision matters, but so does accessibility. Our team worked with National Grid to develop and refine the platform’s terminology to ensure clarity, compliance, and inclusivity. From status indicators to error messages, everything was written with the user’s experience in mind.
This attention to language contributes to higher engagement, fewer errors, and a more trusted user experience. especially in high-stakes processes like procurement or bidding.
Evolution not revolution
Market Gateway doesn’t stand still. Enigma’s ongoing programme of support allows for rapid iteration, bug fixes, and feature enhancements through a shared project management workflow (including our internal system JIRA and regular calls). This means new ideas or issues can be acted on immediately, minimising disruption and ensuring continuous optimisation.
Because the platform is data-driven and CMS access is restricted, any content or UI changes are handled quickly by the Enigma team, ensuring compliance while maintaining editorial control.
What they say
“Enigma have reliably delivered the work scoped on time and to budget, and have managed to work in a complicated environment liaising with multiple teams. Together we have developed a completely new set of APIs and User Interfaces, and managed to build a leading system in the GB energy industry.“
Felix Peterken, DSO Engineer, NGED Distribution System Operator
Results
Over 110 registered organizations using the platform
6000 registered meterable units
Projected that 100 new trade opportunities will be posted per week
Market Gateway continues to grow and deliver impact for both National Grid and its users. The platform supports a growing community of users and an increasing number of active trade opportunities, enabling smarter, more flexible energy use across the UK. There are currently over 110 registered organisations using the platform, 6000 registered meterable units and it is projected that 100 new trade opportunities will be posted per week.
It has gone from a novel pre-qualification tool to a core part of National Grid’s flexibility infrastructure and is now being looked to as a model by others in the sector.
There is an increasing number of users actively participating in trade opportunities on the site and the platform is a key player in the UK’s broader decarbonisation and energy resilience goals. The current iteration of the platform has proved itself to be a scalable platform that has stood the test of three years of continuous evolution to best serve user needs and keep National Grid at the forefront of energy use innovation.
Market Gateway represents a strategic shift in how the UK approaches energy flexibility. Rather than a one-off build, this platform is the result of sustained collaboration and the continued investment from National Grid via a dedicated programme of work with Enigma will mean further advancements as the need of the platform evolves.
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