It is the second time National Grid has issued a NISM in the past year, after it called up 500MW of extra generation in November – the first time it had done so since 2012.
National Grid spent a total of £1.7 million on balancing services throughout yesterday. The highest price paid to a supplier during the NISM period was £1,250/MWh.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “National Grid issued a notice to the industry yesterday evening (9 May) at 19:00 asking for more generation to be brought onto the system.
“The notice that was issued is part of our standard toolkit for balancing supply and demand and when issued is not an indication there is an immediate risk of disruption to supply or blackouts; it is an indication that we would like our power held in reserve to be higher.”
“The was a result of multiple plant breakdowns. An additional 1500MW was requested for between 19:00 and 21:30. The market responded to the notice and the NISM was cancelled at 21.15.”
MPs called on Ofgem to look into the previous NISM issued by National Grid last Novemeber after Calon Energy pocketed balancing payments at a price of £2,500/MWh, just hours after removing its unit from the market.