ESO delivers consumer savings through early adoption of new technologies

• As part of the Constraints Management Pathfinder’s Anglo-Scottish Intertrip scheme the ESO has already saved consumers £80million between April 2022 – January 2023
• By allowing units already connected to the scheme to commence service delivery early, the ESO has been able to generate additional savings for consumers, ahead of the wider go live of the service in October 2023.
• In total this service is expected to deliver annual savings worth tens of millions of pounds for the end consumer and will also help contribute to reduce CO2, with the service to date saving 139,924 tonnes of CO2 the equivalent of nearly 85,000 return flights between London and New York.

Between April 2022 and January 2023 the ESO has saved consumers an estimated £80million that would have otherwise been spent on constraint payments through the early adoption of its new constraints management pathfinder.

Whilst the full service will go live in October 2023, the ESO has generated additional savings for consumers by allowing six units to begin operation early to alleviate network constraints on the B6 England/Scotland network boundary.

The successful units, the majority of which are windfarms along with a battery storage facility , will be connected to constraint management equipment to maximise renewable generation on the system, and reduce constraint costs across the key B6 English/Scottish border.

The contracts are part of the ESO’s Constraints Management Pathfinder project and will enable the ESO’s control room more flexibility by allowing renewable generation to remain on the system, rather than being pre-emptively curtailed. Instead of paying constraint costs to turn off generation when there is the risk of a fault, this service allows clean renewable generation to continue exporting energy for longer. This results in reduced constraint costs which would ultimately be paid for by consumers and lowers the overall carbon intensity of the electricity produced.  

Julian Leslie, Head of Networks at National Grid ESO said:  

"The constraint management pathfinder is fundamental towards solving a heavily constrained area of the grid, and we have taken the initiative to drive forward innovative solutions to manage constraints on the system, whilst maximising renewable generation to ensure 100% zero carbon operation.

"This builds on our wide-ranging 5-point plan which will demonstrate how we resolve constraints on the network for years to come, and reduce balancing costs, ultimately saving consumers millions of pounds."

Learn more about the Constraints Management Pathfinder