ENA consults on Open Networks workplan for 2021

The Energy Networks Association (ENA) has launched a consultation on the workplan for its Open Networks project in 2021.

The programme, now entering its fifth year, aims to support the decarbonisation of the energy system by making networks smarter and more flexible.

There will be five main workstreams in 2021, the first being flexibility services. Speaking to Utility Week, Farina Farrier head of Open Networks at the ENA, said: “Last year we delivered a common agreement that all DNOs are now using to procure flexibility services.

“We’re planning to build on that further and we’re going be aligning it with the ESO as well so there’s common terms and conditions across a range of flexibility services. Other work that we are doing is looking at how we can standardise processes across the country, ultimately making it easier for new technologies to provide services.”

She said they will also carry on the development of a common methodology for assessing flexibility services in comparison with traditional network reinforcements to “bring more transparency to how decisions are made”, as well as addressing industry concerns around the use of active network management and flexible connections and their interactions with flexibility services.

The second workstream will cover whole electricity system planning and data exchange across transmission and distribution. This will include: improving the visibility and monitoring of distributed energy resources, in particular those providing services to distribution network operators (DNOs) or the electricity system operator  (ESO); supporting the introduction of a new licence condition for networks to share data that would be beneficial to outside parties, such as information on network configuration, outages and forecasting; and enhancing the distribution future energy scenarios published by DNOs.

Customer connections and information will be the third workstream. Farrier said DNOS will improve the “granularity” of the Embedded Capacity Registers they are required to publish to give customers a better idea of where spare network capacity is available, introducing new data fields and extending the registers to cover assets of less than 1MW in capacity.  They will continue the implementation of a new queue management process that prioritises the connection of flexible assets that can alleviate network constraints and “make more room for others to connect” as opposed to the traditional “first-in, first-out” approach.

The fourth workstream will cover whole energy system planning. The ENA will further develop its cost-benefit analysis model for comparing solutions in different sectors and work with Ofgem to incorporate it into the new coordinated adjustment mechanism proposed by the regulator for the RIIO2 price controls.

Farrier said these will all feed into a fifth “overarching” workstream concerning the transition to distribution system operation (DSO). She said the ENA will update its interactive DSO implementation plan to “give the latest view of activities and developments” and provide more detailed information on what each of the networks is doing in the other areas.

ENA chief executive David Smith said: “The momentum Open Networks has built, and the pivotal role it plays in the energy transition, will continue into 2021 with further delivery and enhancements that will make interacting with our system as easy as possible.

He continued: “2021 will be a year of action and delivery ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, and the Open Networks project looks forward to collaborating with the whole industry, from BEIS and Ofgem to community groups all over the country, to deliver the vital changes to deliver net zero emissions.”

The consultation on the workplan will close to responses on 1 March.