More options to address winter peak demand challenges

We have made the decision to implement two more options to better manage potential tight supply situations for winter 2023:

• Option B: Provide forecast spot prices under demand sensitivity cases
• Option D: System operator review of wind offers based on external forecast

These options were earmarked for further development when we released our decision paper Driving efficient solutions to promote consumer interest through winter 2023 on 9 March.

We are also developing two further options:

• Option E: Clarify availability and use of ‘discretionary demand’ control (such as ripple control)
• Option G: Selectively increase existing ancillary service cover at times to offset increased uncertainty in net demand.

Work on options E and G is ongoing and decisions on their potential implementation will be made later in April.

Our decision to implement options B and D means that at least three improvements will be implemented ahead of winter 2023. This comes after our earlier decision to implement option A, to make better information available on headroom in the supply stack.

View project: Managing peak winter electricity demand