Industry meets to expand plant shutdowns

National Grid has organised the conference in Westminster this Thursday for a range of sectors to examine the potential barriers to creating a viable demand response market in the UK.

The grid operator has pioneered two demand side schemes, with its demand side balancing reserve (DSBR) scheme first run last winter – though no plants taking part in the scheme ended up having to cut their energy usage – and it is currently procuring participants for a dedicated demand-response version of its Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) scheme, called STOR Runway.

More businesses are realising the benefits of shifting power demand

National Grid director of market operations Cordi O’Hara

Under DSBR, firms capable of freeing up a minimum of 1MW capacity on the Grid for short periods between 4pm and 8pm on weekday evenings between November and February are paid fees ranging between £1,000 per MWh and £15,000 per MWh.

National Grid announced at the start of June that it had procured an extra 300MW of capacity for DSBR this winter, in addition to the 242MW procured for last winter. When de-rated for likely available capacity to the grid at any given time, DSBR will equate to an extra 177MW of electricity generation capacity this winter.

“I’m delighted that the demand side balancing reserve market continues to grow, and that more businesses are realising the benefits of shifting power demand,” said National Grid director of market operations Cordi O’Hara.

“As operator of the electricity system, it’s our role to ensure we’ve got the right tools in place to balance the system in even the toughest winter conditions.”

The grid operator has declined to reveal which companies have signed up for this coming winter’s DSBR scheme, but previous participants have included Anglian Water, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and Tata Steel.