The National Energy System Operator (NESO) revealed that its Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) was used for 44 times last winter, showing itself to be a competitive way of balancing Britain’s electricity network.
Power consumption was reduced or shifted by 3,917.7MWh over the winter, which is the equivalent of powering 12.7 million homes for an hour. It represents more power saved from the previous winter, where the DFS saw 3,759MWh of power reduced or shifted.
Explaining why flexibility is such an important tool, Rebecca Beresford, NESO Director of Markets said: “If we can reduce electricity demand by rewarding participating customers to turn down when we need them to, it means we can avoid using expensive and polluting fossil fuel generators. Indeed, the DFS reduced carbon emissions by more than 620 tonnes last winter.”
Those that participate in the DFS get notifications from their electricity supplier or aggregator on days where the NESO is activating the service which happens when energy demand is expected to be high. This lets households and businesses know when the peak time is expected to be – usually between 4PM and 7PM. They are then asked if they can reduce their energy use during this period and are rewarded accordingly.
Beresford added: “Accessing more flexibility in our electricity system is vital for running a clean, green, and fair system of the future. NESO’s world-leading Demand Flexibility Service has been a real breakthrough, which has this year proven itself effective not only at times when margins have been tight during periods of high demand, but as an efficient everyday tool for balancing the network when needed.”
