A major theme of the UK's low-carbon energy transition is the **rise of the consumer**. No longer just energy buyers on the end of power lines, we can send energy services "back up the wire", reduce costs and generate new revenues in a new, consumer-centric energy world.

In 2030, local power plants (mostly solar and wind) will comprise nearly half of UK capacity, up from a quarter in 2018\. Much will be traded peer-to-peer by a new class of energy "prosumers" offering a range of clean energy services locally, and to the grid operators.

The **Liverpool Multi-vector Energy Exchange** (LMEX) will create a detailed design for a city-wide, smart local energy system that will greatly facilitate clean energy, electric vehicles, and low-carbon heating and cooling. Our design will open the door to a host of innovative technologies including EV charging; heat networks with ground / water / air source heat pumps; solar-powered hydrogen production to replace gas supply and power fuel cells; battery and REDOX based energy storage; and a host of flexible demand approaches.

LMEX comprises two critical layers -- both first-of-a-kind. The first is hardware: a **Smart Network Controller** with capabilities far beyond the present market, to communicate with, control and optimise in real-time myriad local energy assets. The second is software-based: the **Flexibility Exchange Platform** (FXP), through which prosumers will trade peer-to-peer with full transparency, automatic matching, and without third-party intervention. FXP will be grafted on to the control layer so that a) all buy and sell transactions can be honoured; and b) the technical limits of the system cannot be stressed/violated.

LMEX Project is about **commercially-driven R&D**. It benefits from real-world track record in developing smart energy networks, though the city-wide scale envisaged here is far greater than anything in the energy world today.

LMEX is about tangible benefit to prosumers and energy system operators:

* New flexibility players: all sizes, user-types and technologies able to trade clean, flexible energy services across power, heat and cool, and transport.
* More, cheaper, locally produced energy for lower consumer bills.
* Reduced import from the grid for reduced network losses and avoidance of network reinforcement and associated disruptions.
* More clean energy, leading to improved local air quality, and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.
* New revenue streams: access for participants to a widening spread of local and national energy market segments, in which new revenues streams are emerging steadily.