Electricity system operator NGESO is preparing to end the use of faxes to communicate instructions between its control room and market participants. It has to replace the system because the analogue telephone network will be decommissioned in 2025.
The system operator said fax machines in its control room are used for communication with Balancing Market units (BMUs), other parts of the National Grid business, internal control room engineers and other external parties.
Faxes are used to support critical functions such as system restoration and system warnings and their use is ‘baked in’ to the Grid Code that governs the parties’ actions. It said a ‘received receipt’ to confirm a fax has been successfully received is particularly important when fulfilling Grid Code obligations such as the issue of system warnings.
At the end of 2025 the network used by fax machines will be decommissioned by British Telecom. The System Operator is planning a new digital data exchange portal that will be available to BMUs and market participants. It is planning to deliver a fully functional portal to all fax users by the end of 2024, allowing a full year to bed the new system in before British Telecom decommissions its network.
NGESO acknowledged that in the new system users would require on an internet connection to get access to the portal.