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Electricity transmission/distribution

Editor's picks

Ofgem codifies response to fault ride through failures
Ofgem has approved a modification to the Grid Code to formalise the response to the failure of a generator to ride through a normal fault on the transmission network. The modification was originally proposed by SSE after National Grid Electricity System Operator raised concerns over a growing number of instances in which generators suffered outages at the same time as a fault on the transmission network that did not push it outside of normal operational limits.
News
Uncertainty over network investment jeopardising offshore wind target
National Grid has funding certainty from Ofgem for just 4% of the network investment necessary to support Boris Johnson’s offshore wind target of 40GW by 2030, the company’s head of strategy has warned. Delivering evidence to a House of Lords select committee, Claire Dykta said that “15 major projects” are required in order to connect the additional offshore generation needed to meet the target to the onshore power grid.
News
Ofgem consults on proposals for ‘central network planner’
Ofgem is consulting on proposals for the Future System Operator to become a “central network planner” as part of its joint review of offshore electricity transmission with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The regulator had already suggested this as one of its key roles and responsibilities when outlining its intentions for the Future System Operator – a fully independent system operator for electricity and gas – in an earlier consultation in June.
News

Featured

UK100: DNOs must avoid becoming net zero blockers
To achieve their ambitious decarbonisation targets, local authorities must get to grips with a complex and evolving energy system. But, as UK100 chief executive Polly Billington argues, the energy sector must also do its part in seeking to understand the needs and the capabilities of local government. She talks to Lucinda Dann about how the sector is doing so far and why local area energy planning must happen with councils, rather than to them.
Interviews
Kwarteng says networks’ storm responses must improve
Business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said networks’ response to storm must improve, describing power cuts of longer than three days as “unacceptable.” Appearing before the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee to answer questions about November’s Storm Arwen, which left some households without power for more than a week, the minister also rejected a suggestion that networks’ resilience to such events should have been stress tested by Ofgem.
News
ENA sets out plans for Open Networks project in 2022
The Energy Networks Associations has set out its plans for its Open Networks project in 2022, which will continue to focus on heavily standardising and coordinating flexibility services. The ENA said the industry initiative, which was launched in 2017 to accelerate the transition to a smart, flexible energy system, has enabled the UK to establish “world leading” local flexibility markets, with contracts for more than 3GW of flexibility being made available for tender in Great Britain last year.
News

Latest in Electricity transmission/distribution

National Grid profits surge to £4bn
National Grid has seen its profits surge to almost £4 billion following its acquisition of Western Power Distribution, the commissioning of two new interconnectors to France and Norway, and accelerated investment in the electricity transmission network. Utility Week spoke to chief financial officer Andy Agg about its financial results for the year to the end of March.
News
SSEN launches automatic connection application tool
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has launched a new online tool to assist households and businesses seeking to connect low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps or electric vehicle chargers. The distribution network operator said its LCT Connections tool streamlines the process, assessing applications through an automated process and providing details for any further steps required.
News
Locational electricity pricing could save £30bn by 2035
Locational electricity pricing could save £30 billion – or £1,000 per household – by 2035, according to a new study from Energy Systems Catapult and Octopus Energy. The report said the current market arrangements were designed for an energy system dominated by large, centralised generators and “no longer makes sense”, resulting in a “growing tension between the wholesale market and physical reality”.
News
Government to hold £200m competition for zero-emission lorries
The Department for Transport has announced plans to hold a £200 million programme of competitions to demonstrate and compare zero-emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and gather evidence on the future requirements for refuelling and recharging infrastructure. The three-year programme will allow manufacturers, energy providers and fleet and infrastructure operators to demonstrate their technologies on UK roads and will start later this year with initial competitions for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell HGVs.
News
Gas crisis has ‘fundamentally changed’ economics of energy
The gas crisis that began in autumn last year and deepened with Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine has “fundamentally changed” the economics of energy, according to Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley. Speaking at a conference on Wednesday (11 May), Brearley said the massive increase in gas prices since then has brought an end to the old idea of an energy trilemma, whereby the objectives of decarbonisation, affordability and security of supply are in tension with each other.
News
Energy Security Bill opens door to price cap extension
The government has confirmed that the retail price cap will be extended beyond 2023 in the first energy bill for nearly a decade, which also contains emergency powers to ensure resilience and continuity of fuel supplies. The Energy Security Bill, which was announced in the Queen’s Speech in Tuesday (10 May), will contain powers to enable the extension of the price cap , which the government described as the "best safety net for millions".
News
Ofgem sets out new challenges for Strategic Innovation Fund
Ofgem has set out the new challenges for the second round of its Strategic Innovation Fund, which will begin accepting applications in September 2022. The second round will seek to address four innovation challenges and will be the first to be open to electricity distribution networks.
News
Upfront grid investment requires new regulation
A new regulatory framework is required to help finance the upfront grid investment seen as key for cost effective delivery of net zero, while protecting consumers, National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has argued. Responding to the Welsh Affairs Committee’s ongoing inquiry into grid capacity in Wales, the ESO said this would help to solve a “chicken and egg” concerning investment in new generation and transmission capacity.
News
Ofgem to reduce distribution connection charges
Ofgem has opted to reduce connection charges for distribution network customers as part of its significant code review of network access arrangements. Network operators will also be required to offer larger users standardised flexible connection options with clear curtailment limits and end dates.
News
How flexibility holds the key to unlocking a net zero future
Ben Godfrey, distribution system operator manager at Western Power Distribution, discusses the company’s efforts to “turbo-charge” the market for flexibility, including through its Flexible Power platform that been adopted by all but one of the distribution network operators in Great Britain and its Intraflex trial of continuous close-to-real-time trading.  
Opinion
ESO vets stalled connection bids to ease grid bottlenecks
National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) is vetting stalled projects seeking a grid connection in a bid to tackle bottlenecks on the transmission network in South Wales that threaten to hold back potentially more viable renewable energy developments. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday (27 April), the ESO’s head of networks Julian Leslie said the body is taking steps to take projects out of the connection pipeline that are not progressing.
News
BEIS confirms plans to interconnect offshore wind clusters  
Plans to interconnect clusters of offshore windfarms by strengthening legal clarity over the licensing of multi-purpose interconnectors have been confirmed by the government. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Offshore Transmission Network Review is exploring how to take a more strategic approach to windfarm development, including how best to facilitate MPIs.
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