Oct 10

Local flexibility markets mark the emergence of the new DSOs

The electricity system is in transition. Transmission connected, centralised synchronous generation is being displaced by multiple small installations of intermittent asynchronous generation connected at the distribution level. Advances in sub-transmission technology including as storage, smart homes, electric vehicles, DSR and others are challenging the traditional design of networks. Accommodating these changes though traditional DNO operations…

Oct 5

Kathryn Porter

Changing regulatory landscape for electricity storage is not all good news

The last couple of months have seen some interesting newsflow in relation to electricity storage. Storage projects are increasingly popular, with developments occurring at every level of the system from grid-connected utility-scale projects to behind-the-meter domestic storage, and the Government together with Ofgem is keen to remove barriers to entry to allow storage assets to…

Sep 14

Kathryn Porter

The DSR market is slowly developing, but more needs to be done to encourage participation

Last week Energyst published its latest report into the demand side response market, which confirmed the findings of previous reports, that businesses are generally positive about DSR as long as operations are not affected. Un-tapped appetite among SMEs was also identified. The survey found that triad avoidance is the most common DSR action 57%), with…

May 8

Kathryn Porter

Building energy efficiency forecasts appear to be largely useless

Following on from my previous post on energy efficiency, I was very interested to read about a recent study by the University of Bath which shows a significant gap between the forecast energy efficiency of new buildings and their actual performance once in use. “A correlation analysis indicated little correlation between which variables were thought…

Apr 20

Kathryn Porter

Energy efficiency measures should be a no-brainer, so why are businesses so reluctant?

This week I attended an event run by the Energy Institute on whether in the context of the UK’s industrial strategy the policy can keep up with the energy market. One comment that was made repeatedly was that UK businesses are bad at exploiting opportunities for energy efficiency, and that no-one really understands why this…

Apr 4

Kathryn Porter

Solar spurs growth in turn-up DSR

The need for the new Turn-Up DSR service was clearly shown on Saturday 25 March when daytime electricity demand fell below overnight demand for the first time, due to high levels of solar PV generation. According to government data, there is currently over 7.3 GW operational solar PV installed in GB, with a further 446…

Sep 26

Kathryn Porter

Turndown DSR should be a no-brainer, so what’s holding it back?

Turndown DSR is what most people think of when demand-side response is mentioned, ie reduction of demand by consumers in response to either price signals or instructions from the system operator. As it involves reduced consumption and moving consumption from periods of higher to lower demand, turndown DSR is both economically efficient and consistent with…