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 of National Grid’s role – the cost of electricity system balancing. This is just one relevant element that will feed into the costs and benefits of creating more independent system operators. But nonetheless an interesting metric to look at is to consider how the system’s balancing needs, and with it the Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) role, has changed over time.