ESO to accelerate additional grid capacity

National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has unveiled a new service which will accelerate more than 7.3GW of additional grid capacity with hundreds of new connections across the UK.

The MW Dispatch Service, which is being launched in partnership with UK Power Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), is designed to support the management of transmission network constraints with smaller electricity generators.

MW Dispatch will allow the ESO to use smaller generators which are not operating in the Balancing Mechanism to manage constraint.

Through the new service, the ESO will be able to instruct Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to reduce their output during periods of system constraint, enabling them to receive payments for the electricity they would have otherwise generated.

“Consumers will also reap the benefits of this new service, as it will provide a cheaper alternative to the existing constraint management process used within the Balancing Mechanism, helping to reduce costs for consumers,” the ESO said.

It added that customers are being signed up to participate in the service, expected to begin “over the coming months”, by UKPN and NGED.

Claire Dykta, head of markets at the ESO, said: “Collaboration across networks is helping us to unlock new solutions to manage the network of the future.

“Alongside other steps on our Markets Roadmap, the MW Dispatch Service is unlocking new tools to deliver long-term management of constraint costs and to deliver new service options for distributed assets.”

Sotiris Georgiopoulos, director of DSO at UK Power Networks, said: “Collaboration between networks and the ESO has been fundamental to enabling this new service. It means over 1GW of generation and batteries can connect to our network faster and at lower cost because we’ve come together to tackle this challenge head-on and benefit our customers in the South Eastern region.”

Ben Godfrey, director of DSO at National Grid Electricity Distribution, said: “Through the MW Dispatch project, we are providing the ESO with unparalleled visibility of new DERs connecting to our network, and the ability to manage constraints on the transmission network in a more efficient manner.

“This, alongside wider industry reform work, will enable us to accelerate over 2GW of additional generation connection offers in the South West. This collaborative approach, and the underlying capabilities are now being scaled up across the UK to help us alleviate wider constraints at the transmission/distribution boundary and connect more renewable generation to the network.”