National Grid now has access to the half hourly settlement data of almost all export sites connected to the distribution network, giving it visibility over the renewable generation that it has previously only be able to register as negative demand.
The news was confirmed by the UK’s energy market data hub Electralink, which has signed a ‘long-awaited’ contract with the system operator.
Discussions began in August 2017 on the provision of data submitted at the metering point level, which is governed by the user group of the Data Transfer Service (DTS). With their permission, Electralink uses the DTS to capture and store a dataset of distribution network connected generation output that identifies 96% of all half hourly connected export sites.
National Grid had sought access to this data to overcome concerns surrounding its ability to accurately gauge electricity demand during peak periods.
The rise of renewable energy on the distribution networks of the UK in recent years has drawn into sharp focus the lack of visibility over the varying range of generation feeding into the grid.
On 25 March 2017, transmission system demand dipped below overnight demand for the first time in the UK’s history, with increased solar generation the root cause. Instances such as these have seen National Grid reduce its minimum system demand forecasts and warn transmission system connected generators that they may face turn down instructions.
While the TSO has maintained that it has the tools necessary to adequately balance the system as required, greater visibility over distribution network generation would ensure National Grid does not fall victim to operability challenges caused by unpredictable renewable output.
To this end, and with support from Ofgem, Electralink implemented a change to the data access rules in its agreement with the users of the DTS in April, allowing it to provide data to National Grid. This was achieved after working across industry to ensure the data is provided under a legitimate permitted purpose and that full consideration of GDPR date protection has been undertaken.
Stuart Lacey, chief executive officer at ElectraLink, said: “We believe market data transparency is good for consumers and the energy industry however, there are good reasons why the National Grid request for MPAN level data went through a governance process overseen by the representatives of the DTS users that generate the data.
“Data at this level of granularity can be used to identify individuals and I am glad that ElectraLink was able to work with the users and GDPR legislation to identify a legitimate purpose for the data requested by National Grid.”
Greater visibility and transfer of data between National Grid and the distribution networks has been a key part of the evolution of the latter towards a Distribution System Operator (DSO) model.
The Energy Network Associations’ Open Networks Project, which aims to facilitate the DSO transition and improve data flows across the transmission-distribution interface, recently launched a consultation to identify which model, or ‘world’, would be best for this.
Randolph Brazier, head of innovation at ENA, told Current± that the new agreement between Electralink and National Grid would help to serve the adoption of those potential ‘worlds’.
“Visibility and transfer of data across the transmission-distribution parts of the energy networks is something that is often overlooked when the DSO transition is being debated, but it is absolutely critical as we move towards a smarter, flexible energy system,” he said.
“The increased flow of data, specifically with respect to distributed energy resources, is key to our members’ efforts to use network innovation to maximise benefits for the public. We are exploring how this could happen under a range of different scenarios in the current Open Networks Future Worlds consultation, which is open until 25 September.”
