Solution section
Distribution & DER
How distribution networks, households and distributed resources participate.
Distribution & DER
Distribution networks are not represented directly inside the national wholesale clearing price.
DER participation therefore occurs through additional arrangements such as:
- retail tariffs;
- aggregators;
- virtual power plants;
- local flexibility markets;
- smart export tariffs;
- network connection arrangements.
This allows DER participation without redesigning the core wholesale market, but it also means distribution coordination is structurally separate from the principal market-clearing mechanism.
As DER penetration increases, the question becomes whether this layered approach remains sufficiently coherent and scalable.