National Grid ESO is seeking industry feedback on its Electricity Ten Year Statement, an annual update on the network’s capability, to see whether it should change to meet evolving industry needs.
The statement has been produced annually since 2012 and the ESO has already made changes, such as producing additional documents alongside, on system operability (System Operability Framework) and the options for adding specific new assets (Network Options Assessment). The ESO says “we want to have clear focus of discussion in each document”.
Earlier this year the ESO announced plans to operate the system at ‘zero carbon’ as early as 2025, a process that would create new markets and include more participants. It wants the Ten-Year Statement to help deliver that by consulting and publishing the document more widely to help a broader market better understand its needs and propose solutions to meet them. It says the previous focus of the statement on meeting winter peaks may change: the most challenging system needs might no longer be just at winter peak, but other periods such as at low demand in the summer may also give rise to demanding network conditions.
It proposes a revised structure and is seeking industry feedback.
The full consultation is here and it closes on 17 May.