United Utilities has turned to the market to find out more about how to best use energy management services to operate its electricity generating assets.

The water company manages a number of different electricity generating assets, including CHP engines, back-up generators, solar, wind and hydro and is also considering the installation of battery storage. It also participates in various demand side response activities, operating energy consuming assets to switch up or down in response to various signals, to help balance the electricity grid, thereby earning income for doing so.

United Utilities is now looking for external parties to help it manage these assets in a holistic way.

This could be via one or many systems utilised in an integrated way to operate all of the assets to extract the most value from them.

Sources include various National Grid markets for demand side response, managing import of electricity through peak tariff periods, or optimising the water company’s position in line with market prices.

The objective is to operate all of the plant, or combinations of the plant, to ensure that at any moment in time the utility is providing electricity at the lowest net cost.

United Utilities would like to hear from suppliers with experience in this field who may be able to support it and who can provide case studies or references to demonstrate their capability in this area.

At this stage United Utilities is conducting pre-market engagement in order to understand what is potentially on offer before committing to any formal procurement process.

The utility is inviting interested suppliers with experience to provide at a minimum the following information and submit it to the United Utilities Regulatory Procurement Team mailbox at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Company Name
• Contact Name, position, address, telephone and email
• One or more case studies demonstrating previous contracts of a similar nature.

United Utilities anticipates going out to tender in July next year.