Volta: Advanced Scheduling Advisor 2

The project objective is to develop and validate the Advanced Scheduling Advisor PoC (Proof of Concept) for scheduling decision support using genetic algorithm optimisation. Progressing the Volta ASA1 (NIA2_NESO109) solution delivered in December 2025, this project aims to move from the synthetic abstractions of Phase 1 to a functional PoC. The focus is on validating the tool's logic and results for credibility and alignment to data realities, furthering high impact innovation features, and upgrading infrastructure, engineering and algorithmic speed to robust PoC levels. The project will build on ASA1 using historic operational data, refined optimisation logic, speed improvements, new operational flexibility options and SME testing. Expected outcomes are improved operator insight and scheduling efficiency.

Benefits

1. What is the expected benefit delivered directly by THIS PROJECT?​ 
1a.Short benefit statement (clear and specific)​ 
 
The ASA2 project is expected to improve operator insight and scheduling efficiency, to enhance "what if" capability and to deliver features aimed at identifying and resolving network constraints in an automated and explainable way, hence improving the grid resilience. If successful, the product may provide evidence of cost reductions in balancing operations. 

1b. Who will benefit from this project and in what way?​ 
The direct beneficiary is the Strategy team in the NESO Control Room, whose members will be supported by the ASA tool automating parts of the current process and providing plans with high frequency of generation to capture the latest data changes and a higher temporal granularity while benefiting from a refined optimiser logic and new features. 
By extension, the ASA tool is expected to support the NESO Control Room operators in their continuous improvement of the efficiency of the balancing operations both from the security and from the economic standpoint. 
​ 
1c. How confident are you this project will deliver this benefit?​ 
Low / Medium / High​ 
Medium

1d. Can this benefit be quantified? (For development and demonstration projects provide quantified estimates where reasonably possible. If quantification is not currently feasible, explain why and what evidence supports the expected benefit)​ 
Yes - provide metric, baseline, expected improvement​ 
No - explain why not at this stage 
From the financial point of view, achieving even a long-term conservative potential benefits case of 5% to 15% efficiency gain on a £5.5B baseline is expected to deliver between £300M and £800M in annual consumer value. 
An exact quantification of the time savings for the Strategy team members is not possible at this time due to the variability depending on the scenarios faced.  The Strategy team in the NESO Control Room has the overall responsibility on the scheduling process. 

Nonetheless, the expectation is for the Strategy team members to transition from a manual process to an automated one where the ASA tool will also provide decision support capabilities, hence allowing the users to spend more time overseeing the plan, exploring the efficiency of minor amendments to the plan or to the input data and focusing on the appropriate level of reserve. 

Future / Full-Scale Benefit (if applicable - think beyond direct project outputs, e.g. operational rollout, industry adoption, policy influence, future cost reduction, resilience improvement)​ 
From a financial point of view, the ASA tool may be able to deliver between circa. £300M to £800M in annual consumer value. This is calculated assuming a 5-15% efficiency gain on an average annual balancing cost of £5.5 billion between 2028 and 2035, in line with the holistic transition projection. 

Apply relevant category (Knowledge, Social, Environmental, Financial)​ 

2. What is the expected benefit if this idea is implemented at full scale?​ 
2a. High-level outcome statement​ 
The ASA tool will automate part of the scheduling process in the NESO Control Room, which is currently heavily manual, by delivering AI solutions to generate the operating plans and to assist the users in the optimal selection of contingency units in case any of the generators in the plans will need to be replaced. 
The operating plans produced by the ASA tool will take into account data on network constraints, generator parameters, market prices, voltage zones, inertia requirements, national demand and wind forecast, among other datasets, in order to ensure that the selection of the units is as close as possible to the global optimum. 
Moreover, ASA is expected to produce operating plans with at least 30 minutes granularity, which would represent a step change in the scheduling operations that would cascade benefits to other teams in the control room by supporting their balancing-related operations.

2b. Who will benefit from this project in the future and in what way?​ 
Link benefit - stakeholder clearly​ 
The direct beneficiary is the Strategy team in the NESO Control Room, whose members will be supported by the ASA tool automating parts of the current process and providing plans with high frequency of generation to capture the latest data changes and a higher temporal granularity while benefiting from a refined optimiser logic and new features. 
By extension, the ASA tool is expected to support the NESO Control Room operators in their continuous improvement of the efficiency of the balancing operations both from the security and from the economic standpoint.

2c. What needs to happen for this future benefit to be realised?​ 
e.g. rollout, policy change, integration, further development​ 
The benefits provided by the ASA tool need to be validated and, if proven successful, the product will undergo an implementation project for it to be productionised and, potentially, a new innovation project will be required to incorporate the datasets addressed by the GC0166 (Grid Code change 166). 

2d. How confident are you this project will deliver this benefit?​ 
Low / Medium / High​ 
Medium 

2e.  Can this benefit be quantified? (For development and demonstration projects provide quantified estimates where reasonably possible. If quantification is not currently feasible, explain why and what evidence supports the expected benefit)​ 
Yes - provide metric, baseline, expected improvement​ 
No - explain why not at this stage 
From the financial point of view, achieving even a long-term conservative potential benefits case of 5% to 
15% efficiency gain on a £5.5B baseline is expected to deliver between £300M and £800M in annual consumer value. 
An exact quantification of the time savings for the Strategy team members is not possible at this time due to the variability depending on the scenarios faced.   
Nonetheless, the expectation is for the users to transition from a manual process to an automated one where the ASA tool will also provide decision support capabilities, hence allowing the users to spend more time overseeing the plan, exploring the efficiency of minor amendments to the plan or to the input data and focusing on the appropriate level of reserve.  

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