Networks
I have written several times about the challenges facing system operators as the energy transition sees increasing amounts of intermittent generation increasing frequency variation. However, between mid-January and early March, there was a persistent frequency deviation that caused clocks to lose time across the [...]
Last week, National Grid outlined its plans for it system operator business, following the decision by Ofgem last year that greater separation of this activity was needed from the rest of the National Grid business in order to better manage conflicts of interest. “Our [...]
In December, National Grid published a new roadmap for its frequency control and reserve markets, setting out the principles which are to govern the development of balancing services products with a view to providing greater clarity and investor certainty. Described in more detail below, [...]
National Grid's outlook for the coming winter is somewhat more positive in capacity terms than in previous winters, with a capacity margin of 6.2 GW or 10.3%. "We are confident that we have the right products and strategy in place to help us to [...]
Last week, National Grid announced a rationalisation of its frequency response balancing services as part of its wider review of the needs of the electricity system. As the electricity system becomes more decentralised with an increasing contribution from intermittent sources of generation, the traditional methods [...]
Last week saw the news that National Grid has successfully trialled a method of measuring the inertia of the electricity system in real time. This may seem like a technical curiosity, but it has major implications for system management. What is inertia…… Electrical inertia [...]
Existing power grids were designed to transmit electricity over relatively short distances, however, increasingly grids are required to supply major cities from remote offshore wind farms at the same time as integrating local generation. With generators feeding variable amounts of energy from renewable sources [...]
The first sections of the new electricity interconnector between the UK and Belgium were installed this month with the laying of the first 59km section of the Nemo Link, a joint venture between the UK's National Grid and Belgium's Elia System Operator, between the [...]
On the 12th July, Ofgem issued an open letter launching the process for establishing the next round of price controls, known as "RIIO-2", for the GB gas and electricity systems. These price controls determine the amount of allowable expenditure for network companies (which includes [...]
In its Future Energy Scenarios, National Grid presents its views of the future of the GB energy system, which I have described here. As I was exploring the scenarios, I was struck by some surprising features of the scenarios, in particular that three of [...]