Collaborating to unlock network capacity
We’re collaborating with National Energy System Operator (NESO) to unlock more network capacity and connect more projects at the lowest cost to the consumer.
About Regional Development Programmes (RDPs)
RDPs are projects that identify where reinforcements are preventing customers from connecting to the network, and aim to provide tools and resources to help.
Through enhanced co-ordination between NESO and UK Power Networks the programmes develop and implement tools, resources and processes to remove these barriers. This allows relevant Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to connect ahead of network reinforcement, which (in some cases) can take up to 10 years to complete.
In turn, this better enables the country’s ambitions to deliver Clean Power 2030 and Net Zero 2050. It also brings the potential for consumer bills to fall, as less of our electricity mix will come from natural gas, which has a volatile price.
UK Power Networks has two RDP areas: the Eastern area and the South East. Both networks face challenges with transmission network upgrades scheduled out to the late 2030s. Drivers for the transmission reinforcement include large offshore wind and nuclear generation planned in the East, and interconnectors in the South East.
South East Coast RDPs
MW Dispatch RDP solution
UK Power Networks has been collaborating with NESO to implement a Megawatt (MW) Dispatch service in the SPN network.
Through coordination and data exchange with our control room, the project will enable NESO to instruct DER units to reduce their output at times of system constraint, while our DSO dispatches the generators.
This solution enables customers to receive constraint payments for the electricity they would have otherwise generated. This will, in turn, provide a cheaper alternative to the existing constraint management process used within the balancing mechanism, helping to reduce costs for consumers.
Customers are currently being onboarded to participate in this service, which will be further developed to include other dispatch scenarios.
Find out more
N-3 solution
The N-3 Operational Tripping Scheme (OTS) is a mechanism to ensure that the transmission network remains within its safe limits during an N-3 event.
Considered to be a once-in-a-hundred-year instance, an N-3 event occurs when a ‘double circuit fault’ on the transmission network takes place while another transmission circuit is under maintenance. The scheme can disconnect DERs feeding into the impacted part of the transmission network within 30 seconds of the N-3 event, which will reduce the power that may flow towards the transmission network.
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