In my circs,. (battery storage, solar PV and a heat pump) they suggest that Octopus Flux would be advantageous to me. Looking at the import and export rates, this may be a goer come the spring when the more favourable ratio allows more export than during the heat pump hungry darger days of winter. Regards, Toodles.

....and precisely how did he determine what the best interests of "Britain" were?

I don't think I should expand much on that in this open forum discussion.

Let's say it was a Security issue; I was asking about a technical network planning matter for infrastructure which was not yet built.

I strongly suspect that what is in the best interests of the more northern parts of these isles may not be what is topping the agenda in London and the south east.  

It depends what the issue is.

If we're discussing grid resilience, then it's of equal concern to all.
A sudden loss of the Transmission Grid transformers at Strathaven would affect all of Britain.
It's the main interface between the 275kV supplies from the Scottish hydro-electric generation in the Highlands, and the 400kV grid to the south.

If I thought there was a risk of thermal overload, for example, then I might

• write to NESO expressing my concerns
• install a larger home storage battery (!)

On the other hand, if Councils in Scotland are concerned about foreign ownership of wind farms off the East coast, then there's likely to be a difference of opinion between Westminster and Scottish residents.

Scotland does seem to be providing a high proportion of the renewable generation which GB wants to attain Net Zero.
You have MPs who should rightly be requesting information on that matter.

The Commons Select Committee for ESNZ is still in the process of announcing its membership.
There is currently one Scottish member, representing the constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Outer Hebrides).

That's particularly interesting because Torcuil Crichton is the new Labour MP who replaced Angus MacNeil at the last election in May'24.
And it was Angus MacNeil who chaired the Select Committee on ESNZ, sitting as an Independent when the SNP withdrew the whip.

I will suggest that the Outer Hebrides probably has a high proportion of residents who understand renewable energy and battery storage!

....and precisely how did he determine what the best interests of "Britain" were? I strongly suspect that what is in the best interests of the more northern parts of these isles may not be what is topping the agenda in London and the south east.  

Ofgem may well be a GONGO but that does not alter the fact that it is a ministerial sock puppet.

Ofgem is technically a non-ministerial government department rather than a quango.
That subtle difference means that my MP can 'request' that they respond to written questions...
... and that's relevant to an issue which my MP has been working on at my instigation.

I have met with NESO staff, and am therefore in the fortunate position of being able to assess their independence for myself.
One particular response given to me by a senior engineer strongly indicated that he was putting the best interests of Britain ahead of a future network planning strategy.
That was reassuring.

I'm also awaiting a response from a different department within NESO at the moment.
Possibly the sort of work I do is more likely to bring me into direct contact with NESO than others here on the RHH Forum.

The Energy Act (Nov'23) made provision for energy planning and systems operation to be placed in the hands of an independent organisation...
... which is now in place.
NESO is charged with doing so in such a way that

• we achieve de-carbonsation of electricity supplies by 2030
• we reach Net Zero by 2050

Ofgem still holds the remit for governance of the commercial energy companies.

SEC has the remit to define, license and implement the hardware and software for the National Smart Meter Network
(and for its security as of September'24)

So just what is DESNZ doing?

The Department is extremely segmented.

If I communicate with a civil servant on the subject of the 360,000 properties which are beyond the licensed communications channels for the Smart Meter Wide Area Network (SMWAN), then he won't be able to discuss the Smart Meter functionality which affects grid-demand in those (remote) locations. That's the task of a different staffer.

And if I communicate with him about ESAs (Electricity Smart Appliances) then that's being handled by another separate group within DESNZ because they're smart domestic appliances, rather than Smart Meters.

The best way to get a properly joined-up dialogue is to post here on the Forum and listen to the feedback!

It couldn't unless the UK Government was able to persuade HP manufacturers to allow digital access to their control electronics...
effectively opening a port to the internet through which commands can be sent.

That's fair

The DESNZ proposal is for crude access to the mains incomer

I agree this is too crude.  It needs to be done properly or not at all.  There are at least four companies developing various smart controls based on tarrif, why does the government need to involved other than to regulate and encourage.

The cost of recovery could be mitigated by pre loading to raise the house temperature above the design temperature,

It couldn't unless the UK Government was able to persuade HP manufacturers to allow digital access to their control electronics...
effectively opening a port to the internet through which commands can be sent.

The DESNZ proposal is for crude access to the mains incomer.

Perhaps I should also point out that the Proposal includes data capture which is supplied onward to NESO by a licensed DSR-Agent.
That is intended to be used to bring generation on-stream and supply statistical analysis of our electricity supply system.

Government contracts for companies to develop control and database software on this scale are not known for their ability to

• operate effectively
• stick within budget

For comparison purposes Britain has 'merely' 550,000 electricity local substations.
Less than a couple of hundred have ever been monitored, and none have the capability to receive commands and act on them.

The DNOs know that such a system could never be financially justified.

So why would DESNZ imagine that it's sufficiently beneficial and viable to create an even bigger mechanism to handle DSR for every home with a Smart Meter? 😲 

they will offer Intelligent Flux where Kraken controls import and export at a common rate but with integrated Kraken masterminding everything.

That's a similar approach to the Demand Side Response (DSR) proposals from DESNZ in their consultation on Delivering a Safe and Secure Electricity System.
That was Part-2 of the Consultation, sub-titled "Implementation".

Their starting point is that GB will experience regular Demand peaks which cannot be matched by Supply (generation + storage).
That premise is illustrated in the consultation with the Load being a domestic heat pump, and the excess demand being the existing early-evening peak.

There was no underlying evidence presented that the daily demand-peak was a reasonable scenario,
nor that demand would outstrip supply during any possible future scenario.

National Grid ESO told Parliament that their main focus was on energy storage for periods in excess of 200 hours, which is a very different strategy.

The possibility of flattening the peak wasn't considered as an alternative.
That might be because the early-evening peak-demand period is greater in areas with less generation and storage... London (Westminster) being the prime example.

The DESNZ Proposal is for consumers to sign up to a scheme whereby a third-party DSR-Agent would use encrypted commands over the internet to turn off the home heat-pump.
For this, the householder would receive financial compensation.

I raised counterpoints to these proposals on a number of different levels, such as:

• the proposal lacks resilience; the internet communication path is susceptible to a DDoS attack without even bothering to hack the Agent's systems
• the choice of a heat-pump as an appropriate load to switch off isn't well thought through. Domestic heat-pumps will be operating continuously, and are not therefore contributors to a Demand-Peak.
• re-starting heat-pumps would itself cause a demand peak. Attempting to do so randomly on a national basis would still cause overloads at local substations
• the cost of electricity to start a heat pump and bring the house back to working temperature is significant. The financial compensation would need to be high enough to cover that additional demand as well as the DSR-Agents' fees
• stopping heat-pumps increases risks of legionella bacteria in the DHW tank
• a communications system failure could leave heat-pumps switched off without the "switch on" command being issued

Sending DSR commands to prevent charging of storage batteries or re-charging EVs during Demand Peaks would be better illustrations,
but such practice is unlikely due to ToU tariffs. We already re-charge when it's cheaper to do so.

In short, I dislike imposing a broadcast command and control system on top of our electricity supplies, whether it's Octopus' Kraken or OVO's Flex.

If any such DSR strategy were actually required, then it should be implemented using the Auxiliary Load Control System (ALCS) for which each Smart Meter has 5 channels available.
The national Smart Meter Network is secure and independent of the internet.