National Grid ESO (electricity system operator) will be running its demand flexibility service for this time tonight, but what exactly is it?
The service is designed to offset electricity demand during peak times, which today is between 5pm-6pm, National Grid said in a tweet, with consumers given at least 24 hours' notice.
We are also activating a Live #DemandFlexibilityService event between 5-6pm tomorrow. This does not mean electricity supplies are at risk and people should not be worried.
— National Grid ESO (@NationalGridESO) January 22, 2023
Customers were cautioned, however, that these are simply precautionary measures designed to protect the buffer of spare capacity and that it does not mean supplies are at risk.
The scheme only applies to households with up-to-date smart meters, who are signed up for the service via their supplier.
Reportedly, the scheme works by comparing the customer’s usage against usual demand and pays £3 for every unit or kilowatt hour (kWh) saved, with it believed it could save customers £100 over the winter.
So far, the scheme has only been used in tests, with today’s rollout the first time it will be needed in a ‘real life’ situation.
National Grid said last month that the five events it ran “successfully demonstrated that the Demand Flexibility Service can deliver flexibility at scale, enabling consumers and businesses across the country to benefit from shifting their electricity use away from a specific time period.”
The first test delivered a 50% increase in electricity reduction compared to expectations, while the second test also continued to deliver greater than expected engagement, with consumers reducing electricity usage by 35% more than expected.
Across the first two tests, the Demand Flexibility service delivered a total of 314.2 MWh of demand reduction, which is equivalent to the amount of CO2 that a forest of more than 10,000 trees would absorb in a year.
At the time, the head of control at National Grid ESO Craig Dyke said: “These test results show that if called upon this service will help the ESO balance the national electricity network this winter and is a valuable addition to the ESO’s operational tools.”