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National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has announced that a live Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) event will take place between 5pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday (29 November) evening .
The ESO said that it plans to use the service to mitigate “tighter than normal” electricity supply margins. It is seeking to reduce demand by 550MW during this period, according to a system warnings notice.
It is the first time that a live event has taken place this winter, following the first test event which was carried out earlier this month.
Last winter, the ESO did not turn to the DFS “in anger” until January.
An ESO spokesperson said: “Our forecasts show electricity supply margins are expected to be tighter than normal on Wednesday evening.
“We are activating a Live Demand Flexibility Service event between 17:00-18.30 tomorrow. It does not mean electricity supplies are at risk and people should not be worried.
“These are precautionary measures to maintain the buffer of spare capacity we need.”
The ESO set out its projections for the scheme’s uptake within its Winter Outlook published in September.
Under a “fairly moderate” scenario, the ESO expects around 1GW of capacity could be shifted through the DFS this winter. In a more optimistic outlook, the ESO thinks up to 2GW could be made available.
The moderate estimate of 1GW is triple the 350MW reduced during peak times through the DFS last winter, while the ambitious 2GW target is six times as much.
The Winter Outlook states that by deploying the expanded DFS, during peak demand levels, the ESO will maintain “adequate margins” even in a worst-case supply scenario.
It adds that 1GW of capacity will be enough to ensure there is a big enough margin, even if electricity supplies are reduced by 4GW due to “unexpected reduced output from GB generation and/or reduced imports available from Europe”.
As part of the DFS, the ESO is also planning to run 12 incentivised test events that consumers and businesses can participate in.
Electricity suppliers, aggregators and businesses who directly contract with the ESO will receive a guaranteed acceptance price of £3/kWh for the first six of the test events.
However, in a bid to increase competition within the DFS test events, the ESO will remove the guaranteed acceptance price of £3/KWh for the six tests after Christmas if capacity reaches 1.25GW, with the price then being determined by auction.
Octopus previously said the move will effectively put a “handbrake” on the growth of domestic flexibility by limiting the amount of capacity households can contribute.
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