national grid

  • Power and gas networks

    Sharing is Caring: UK Gas and Power Exports Volumes Versus 2021

    It is perhaps unsurprising to highlight that global energy markets have been exposed to significant volatility in recent years. Whether this be through the emergence of a global pandemic, dampening demand and drastically altering consumption behaviour thereafter, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which resulted in significant changes to historic...

  • Home supply and services

    A bumpy ride: Why rising wholesale prices are impacting NTS charges

    Due to the current energy crisis, consumer energy bills have been exposed to substantial increases over the past year. The recent rise in wholesale prices has had knock-on effects in many non-commodity costs within consumer bills, some of which will be baked into charges for several years to come In...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Record renewables pipeline: will investors reconsider after UK proposes green revenue cap?

    News this week that the UK government is mulling over a cap on green generation revenues comes at a time when our research finds that the investment pipeline for electricity renewables generation is the highest it has ever been. In our Renewables Pipeline Tracker (RPT) service we analyse the growing...

  • Low carbon generation

    BSUoS charges: What goes up…

    Balancing Service Use of System (BSUoS) charges have continued to be the dominant driver of Third-Party Charge increases in recent months, with costs remaining elevated since last autumn. In this 'Chart of the week', we present a view of past monthly BSUoS charges and expectations for future costs on a...

  • Business supply and services

    Balancing costs exceed £200mn for three consecutive months

    High underlying commodity and carbon costs haven’t only impacted costs in the wholesale market. From April 2021 to the end of October 2021, balancing costs on the electricity transmission system have totalled £1.29bn. This represents a £301.88mn (30.6%) increase in costs over the same period in 2020, where total costs...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Grid works hard for the money: an annual look back at BSUoS

    This weeks Chart of the Week takes a look at the costs incurred from balancing the electricity system over the last 12 months. The cost of all the actions and day-to-day operation of the electricity system are recovered through Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges. This changes in each...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The GB renewables pipeline: Snakes and Ladders

    Through our Renewables Pipeline Tracker (RPT) service, we have been reporting on and analysing the growing renewables pipeline in GB for the past 18 months. This week’s ‘Chart of the week’ looks at the latest numbers in the pipeline and the key trends impacting renewable assets. RPT research is gathered through a...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Wider Access: BM sees annual increase in smaller participants

    In recent years National Grid ESO’s Wider Access programme has rolled out several measures to support the entry of smaller and non-traditional participants into the Balancing Mechanism (BM). This 'Chart of the week' looks at the level of new entry into the BM over the past year. Specifically, it looks...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Increasing electricity balancing costs and an increasing System Operator role

    Last week saw the publication of Ofgem's review of GB energy system operation. This makes recommendations that the roles and functions of the electricity and gas system operators need to change in light of net zero. In this week's 'Chart of the week', I wanted to focus on one aspect...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | New to the party: Recent changes in Balancing Mechanism activity

    The Balancing Mechanism (BM), one of National Grid Electricity System Operator’s key tools to balance supply and demand in real time, has experienced a notable increase in activity in 2020, especially in light of the heightened challenges that have come from COVID-19. In the BM parties submit bids and offers...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Colours of the Rainbow: Green hydrogen and FES 2020

    On 27 July, National Grid ESO released the 2020 issue of its Future Energy Scenarios (FES), exploring different pathways towards GB’s 2050 net zero goal. A new set of scenarios were developed for this year’s FES, with three of the four (Consumer Transformation, System Transformation and Leading the Way) meeting...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Cha-Cha Slide: COVID-19 & falling levels of inertia

    The level of inertia on the system is a key contributor to electricity system stability. Inertia is an attribute of the system related to the energy stored in the rotating motors of synchronous generators. It prevents system frequency from falling too quickly after a frequency disturbance (e.g. a generator trip)....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Critical Link: Western HVDC & wind in the BM

    On 10 January, the Western Link HVDC suffered a fresh unplanned outage. This consequently prompted Ofgem to investigate National Grid Electricity Transmission and Scottish Power Transmission over the cable's delivery and operation. Coinciding with this outage was record-high levels of wind generation in Great Britain. This generation from transmission connected...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Get a load of this! Wind output in January 2020

    January 2020 was a groundbreaking month for renewables due to high wind performance. Consequently, National Grid ESO announced Great Britain's electricity system in January was the greenest on record. This week's Chart of the week discusses the record-breaking performance of wind. As well as its effect on onshore and offshore...

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | Electricity North West projects future energy demand

    Just as National Grid Electricity System Operator publishes its annual Future Energy Scenarios, Distribution Network Operator (DNO) Electricity North West (ENW) launched its Distribution Future Energy Scenarios. The DNO has forecast future electricity generation and consumption across its network out to 2050, across five scenarios representing a base-case, as well...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | UnBEVlievable: EV sales break records in 2019

    2019 was an exceptional year for electric vehicle (EV) sales, and particularly for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which are fast becoming the choice powertrain within the plug-in vehicle category. BEV sales are higher than the National Grid Future Energy Scenarios’ (FES) Consumer Evolution and Steady Progression forecasts, shown in this...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Pixie Chart of the week | The only way to find what I left behind, I’ve got to double back again

    Our popular weekly publications are an opportunity for our experts to detail a wide range of issues in a succinct and visually engaging manner. In 2019, we published charts on such diverse topics as electric vehicles (EVs), flexibility, energy efficiency, hydrogen, heat, and the GB water markets. In this week’s...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Charging in: New BM entrants and Wider Access

    While National Grid ESO has been granted a derogation until 30 June 2020 to implement project TERRE; Wider Access, its project to increase accessibility to the Balancing Mechanism (BM), is still scheduled to go-live on 11 December 2019. In this Chart of the Week we analyse recent activity of aggregated units and...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | The uncertain future of household V2G value

    Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is considered a step beyond smart charging, unlocking system benefits for a range of market participants. Our Pixie Chart of the Week explores a recent study by Element Energy, Vehicle to Grid Britain, and assesses the opportunities for V2G in a changing GB energy system for residential customers

  • Regulation and policy

    Chart of the week | Zoning out: ESO aims to reform generator TNUoS

    Transmission network use of system (TNUoS) charges are partly based on a locational element, determined by which charging zone the network user is in. There are currently 27 zones for generators – in this Chart of the Week we look at how National Grid ESO is seeking to change that.

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the Week | Call on me: Scottish wind farms in the Balancing Mechanism

    While much of the attention in the Balancing Mechanism (BM) focusses on how flexible technologies such as gas, coal and, increasingly, batteries are being commercially utilised, less is often spoken about the role of wind. This week’s Chart of the Week provides detail on this recent trend and importantly who is being...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | BFG: Big Frequency Game

    Since last Friday’s (9 August’s) power blackout there has been considerable interest in how National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) balances power demand and supply. Terms such as frequency, rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) and inertia have all gained in currency. This Chart of the Week shows the distribution of...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | National Grid forecasts for EV uptake changed

    National Grid issued its 2019 Future Energy Scenarios forecasts on 11 July. This annual forecast provides detailed insight into the expected future energy system, against four scenarios across gas and electricity. National Grid use this data to plan the future transmission systems, but it gives a fascinating insight into likely future energy...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Net zero power: more capacity, negative emissions

    This week's Chart of the Week looks at the Future Energy Scenarios (FES) for 2019, released by National Grid ESO today. It provides an updated outlook for a range of energy sector variables. Its four scenarios continue to be benchmarked against the 80% emissions reduction target on 1990 levels by...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Bootstrap Bill: Western Link HVDC & BSUoS

    The Western Link HVDC, aka “Western Bootstrap”, a 2,200MW, £1bn transmission cable was built to help the UK manage the changing nature of energy production. It helps prevent transmission bottlenecks and increases flows into England and Wales by accommodating the increasingly high volume of power generated in Scotland from wind....

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Flooring it – accelerating decarbonisation through CfDs

    Cornwall Insight wrote to Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry on 10 January to offer an investable solution that will help keep the UK on track to meet steepening decarbonisation goals. National Grid’s Two Degrees scenario shows a 107GW gap between the 53GWs of low-carbon capacity that we have...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | 2018 EV sales to match National Grid projection

    On 5 November, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) published its October 2018 EV registration data. The graph shows a 6% increase on EV registrations for the year-to-date compared to 2017, although for the majority of 2018, BEV sales were slightly down. This week's Pixie Chart of the...