Procuring and Scaling Grid Flexibility 

How should decision makers procure the flexibility their power systems need? What role can battery energy storage systems (BESS) play in providing that flexibility? And what conditions are needed to turn BESS pipelines into sustained deployment? Two resources from RMI and GEAPP provide practical guidance to help global power sector leaders answer these questions.

Periods of technological change have repeatedly reshaped electricity systems, requiring regulators and system operators to adapt planning, operational, and procurement frameworks to maintain reliable and affordable electricity and support economic growth. Today is no different. Declining renewable energy costs, growing electricity demand, advances in digital technologies, evolving operating conditions, and increasing focus on energy security are changing the services power systems need and increasing the value of flexibility — the ability to respond to changes in electricity supply, demand, and grid conditions.

New technologies are also expanding the range of resources capable of providing that flexibility. Battery energy storage systems, in particular, can support resource adequacy, system balancing, and system stability across multiple timescales. Decision makers need frameworks to identify and procure the services their systems require, while developers and investors need regulatory and commercial conditions that allow projects to reach financial close and scale.

This two-part series provides practical guidance for policymakers, regulators, utilities, and system operators across both challenges.

Part 1 — Procuring Grid Flexibility

A global guide for decision makers to increase power system reliability and affordability in the context of rapid technological change

There is no single pathway to enabling flexibility. Rather than prescribing a single procurement model, Procuring Grid Flexibility provides decision makers with practice guidance to:

• Understand evolving reliability needs and the drivers increasing the value of power system flexibility.
• Translate reliability needs into procurable services and define the performance requirements needed to deliver them.
• Select and design appropriate procurement mechanisms based on grid needs, market structure, institutional capacity, and other system conditions.
• Apply lessons from international experience and identify where additional technical analysis, stakeholder engagement, or peer learning may be needed for implementation.

Part 2 — Making BESS Investable

How policy, procurement, and market design translate project pipelines into operational battery energy storage system fleets and sustained deployment

Making BESS Investable builds on the procurement foundations in the first report and examines the conditions needed for projects to attract investment, reach financial close, and scale. It provides decision makers with practical guidance to:

• Understand how BESS markets develop over time, from establishing procurement foundations to sustained, market-driven deployment.
• Identify the conditions needed to make BESS projects bankable: using four pillars — delivery certainty, regulatory clarity, revenue access, and revenue predictability — to diagnose barriers to investment.
• Identify and prioritize reforms based on local market conditions, institutional capacity, and stage of market development.
• Draw lessons from global markets on how regulatory, commercial, and financing frameworks can evolve as BESS deployment scales.

Together, the reports provide a practical pathway from understanding what flexibility a power system needs and how to procure it, to creating the conditions that enable investment and sustained deployment.

RMI and Global Energy Alliance continue to support governments in translating these concepts into implementation through BESS roadmaps, economic viability assessments, procurement and market design, regulatory reform, project deployment resources, and more.

To discuss how these frameworks could be applied in your jurisdiction, access additional resources and international case studies, or explore opportunities for technical support, contact electricity-contact@rmi.

Download part 1 here.

RMI gratefully acknowledges the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet for its partnership and support of this work through the Global BESS Consortium. For more on GEAPP and the BESS consortium, please visit BESS Consortium | Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.

We extend particular thanks to the following colleagues at the Global Energy Alliance for their contributions to these reports: Damola Omole, Deepthi Valsan, and Nirmal Shaju.