The transmission system operator said on Tuesday that it is seeking large energy users and generators to sign up to contracts committing them to reduce demand or to boost power output by as much as 1,800MW depending on the needs of the electricity system.
“It’s our job as electricity system operator to make sure we’ve got all the right tools at our disposal to balance supply and demand on the electricity network, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Peter Bingham, who is leading the initiative on behalf of National Grid.
National Grid already contracts similar services from users and producers but further contracts are needed to manage steadily shrinking capacity margins which are partly due to plant closures and have upped the risk of blackouts by the winter of 2015/16.
The so-called ‘demand side balancing reserve’ seeks to sign up large energy users with the flexibility to reduce electricity use by 330MW during winter 2014/15 and for up to 1,800MW for winter 2015/16 when risk is greatest.
National Grid explained that a user under a DSBR contract could help ease pressure on tight generation margins by switching to back-up generation when demand is at its highest between 16.00 and 20.00 on winter weekdays.
“This will be in return for a payment, and on a purely voluntary basis,” National Grid added.
In addition, the operator is seeking to contract generating plant that would otherwise be closed or mothballed to be available on winter weekdays between 0600hrs and 2000hrs.
The supplemental balancing reserve (SBR) contract is for a total of up to 1,800 MW over the winter 2015/16 when Ofgem estimates surplus generation margins will tighten to increase the risk of blackouts.
Tenders for the winters of 2016/17 and 2017/18 will only be undertaken if an ongoing need is for these services is identified, said National Grid. After this time these services will not be required because the government will have brought in its capacity market for winter 2018/19.