UK Grid to Start Automated Demand-Supply Balancing

National Grid Plc’s control room will begin automating some processes to balance supply and demand from Tuesday, increasing how often batteries are used. 

The new platform will reduce the manual directions required from the control room, increasing speed and reducing costs, according to a statement from the Electricity System Operator. The network manager will be able to call on batteries in bulk, sending hundreds of instructions to smaller units simultaneously.

National Grid needs to find ways to integrate growing supplies of intermittent electricity with demand. To achieve the goal of having a carbon-free electricity network by 2035, storage is needed to take renewable power when it’s abundant and discharge it when it is scarce. Up to now, the UK has been underusing available battery capacity and relying on gas assets to fine tune supplies. 

“As of today, they will literally let the system cobble together the most competitive assets and they will almost always be batteries,” said Ben Guest, managing director at Gresham House, an alternative asset manager with an energy storage fund. “We’re going to see a dramatic change in how the grid is balanced as of today.”