Our commitment to industry wide whole-system coordination, UK Power Networks is collaborating with the ESO in a sophisticated data exchange for operational DER data.

It utilises the existing Inter-Control Centre Communications Protocol (ICCP) link to streamline data to the ESO, enhancing network monitoring capabilities and enabling them to assess the effectiveness of dispatch instructions in managing transmission constraints.

Secondly, an Application Programming Interface (API) method which facilitates direct data transmission to the ESO’s dispatch platform, enabling informed operational decisions and service schedule creation.

We additionally plan to share real time DER unavailability too showing unplanned outages or communication failures. Aligning with ‘D-licence’ requirements updated through Distribution Network Assurance checks to prevent or mitigate any conflicts arising from the dispatch of DERs for resolving transmission constraints.

For publicly shared DER unavailability, consider subscribing to our Daily Operational Plan.

As part of the MW dispatch project, UK Power Networks provides DER Unavailability Reports to ESO in planning timescales. These reports include DER unavailability due to any distribution network outages, faults or conflicts.

The reports apply the Primacy Rules for Dispatch as outlined in ENA’s Open Networks (ON) Primacy Product (P5). To enhance coordination, we will proactively share a three-weeks ahead view of DER Unavailability on a weekly basis, as well as a day-ahead view daily.

The daily report is shared twice daily, in the morning and afternoon, ensuring alignment with the ESO’s system requirements and DSO day-ahead flexibility service scheduling.

The ESO will leverage this data for strategic planning and day-ahead DER scheduling, exemplifying our commitment to a coordinated and efficient energy dispatch process.

The Collaboration Plan is part of a suite of tools called the Smart Optimisation Output (SOO). This plan describes how we collaborate and partner with stakeholders, at all levels, and how we factor their co-developed plans into our own strategic network planning and smart optimisation activities. It shows how we actively participate in the development of strategic regional projects, plans and Net Zero strategies led by others and how we make ourselves available for these collaborations.

The Collaboration Plan demonstrates our approach to boundaries and interfaces with adjacent licensees, IDNOs, other utilities such as water, gas networks, Electricity Transmission Owners (TOs) and the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and how we are working across different energy vectors, including heat and transport, to facilitate whole system optimisation. It will explain how the activities from our DSO, LRE and Digitalisation Strategy and Action Plan interact with one another and interface with the Smart Optimisation Output (SOO).

Sensitivity factors represent the marginal impact of generation or demand at one point of the network on another point. This data allows users to study the impact of existing or planned sites on key constraints, such as lines or transformers.
Sensitivity factors will enable data users to run detailed network studies considering how future connections will impact key network constraints.

Curtailment is playing an increasingly important role in how we operate the network. The Curtailment Dashboard will serve developers, energy operators and the public with a transparent view of curtailment. It will provide insights into our historic curtailment rates across our licence areas and grid supply points, a view of current network conditions, and forecasts of future curtailment.

The 33kV network transports power across our region between grid and primary substations. The DSO will release the historic power flow data at 30-minute resolution for all monitored 33kV circuits within our licence areas. The dataset will include active power (MW) and current (Amps) flows from 2021 to last month.
To make the data more accessible and interoperable, the cables can be linked with the equivalent naming in the Long-Term Development Statement Publication (LTDS).