Improving network visibility

We want to improve visibility of capacity on distribution networks. Making this information publicly available for all networks, in a standardised format, would support decision-making about where to connect new generation, load and storage, and where flexibility services would deliver the most value.

Having this information readily available would reduce costs at the pre-application stage, for example when assessing feasibility of different options, eliminating unsuitable locations and allowing more focused discussions to support applications.

It would also support better network planning, helping distributors identify where flexibility services could be used to defer or avoid expensive network upgrades.

We see improving network visibility as a foundational step in enabling more flexibility, which would increase competition, enhance security of supply and support lower costs flowing through to consumers’ bills.

Most distributors already have good visibility of the high-voltage parts of their networks, and some already make information about network capacity publicly available. However, this information can be hard to find, fragmented, or not at the level of detail required for effective decision-making and each distributor is doing it differently making it difficult for users operating in more than one network.

Distributors are also at different stages of developing and publishing capacity information about their low-voltage networks. While a few distributors already publish this information, availability and coverage is not yet consistent across the industry.

We think there are important benefits from bringing network capacity information to light. At the same time, we recognise collecting, analysing and publishing network capacity information would add costs for distributors. We have therefore proposed to take a staged approach to improve network visibility, with efforts focused first on high-voltage networks. This approach would allow further assessment of the value increased visibility brings, the associated costs, and provide distributors time to work together on common solutions and shared services.