National Grid buys 3.6GW of back-up power to meet winter demand, DSR tender to follow

Posted: 10/02/16
National Grid has procured some 3.58 GW of back-up power for next winter at a cost of £122.4 million. The system operator ran the supplemental balancing reserve tender last month. It proposes to issue contracts to 12 power stations, paying them to be available if needed between November 2016 and February 2017. The plant that stands to provide the single Continue Reading »

 Supermarket sweep: Npower talks up transitional capacity market, Flexitricity talks it down

Posted: 10/02/16
Npower is trying to drum up more interest from retailers in demand response provision ahead of the transitional capacity auction next month. The problem is, most retailers aren’t interested enough to take action. Meanwhile, one of the largest commercial aggregators of demand response has warned that the transitional arrangements will return poor value to those that take part in them. Continue Reading »

Government to consult on DSR in spring, aggregator Open Energi signs big deal

Posted: 10/02/16
As government confirms it will consult in spring on bringing down the barriers to demand side response (DSR), battery storage and smarter grids, DSR provider Open Energi announces a major deal with Tarmac. The firm will add its frequency response technology to the construction giant’s 200 bitumen tanks so that they can provide grid balancing services. Open Energi calls it Continue Reading »

40% of firms say they could shift energy use times as National Grid asks them to turn up

Posted: 10/02/16
Some 40% of UK company directors say their business could be more flexible in its shift patterns or when it consumes energy, according to a survey by The Energyst magazine. However, only 13% of directors surveyed say they participate in demand response schemes. Of those that do participate, Triad is the most popular scheme, followed by frequency response and short Continue Reading »

2016: The year half hourly settlement will hit your power bill

Posted: 10/02/16
2016 is the year more companies will be charged not just for how much power they use, but when they use it. A piece of regulation called P272 means that a further 160,000 businesses will have their usage settled on a half hourly basis. With industry experts predicting more volatile half hourly prices, that will be reflected in bills. It’s Continue Reading »

Energy Technologies Institute: Let private firms lead smartgrid trials

Posted: 10/02/16
Private companies should be put in charge of energy innovation projects rather than energy network operators, according to the head of the Energy Technologies Institute. The push to build smart grids for both electricity and gas is being stymied because the gas and electricity network operators “lack the scale to handle that sort of investment”, ETI chief executive Dave Clarke today Continue Reading »

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