Britain's Elexon sets out market-wide half-hourly electricity meter data access plan

Britain's electricity balancing and settlement code manager Elexon has set out how it will make half-hourly consumption data available once Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS) is live.

Half-hourly settlement data is a key enabler of the demand response and flexibility needed in the GB power market to reach net zero. Generators and suppliers already trade electricity in the wholesale market in half-hourly periods, but most other customers are settled on a non-half-hourly basis using estimates. The government believes the GB market needs up to 30 GW of low carbon flexibility by 2030 to decarbonize the power system.

"Once we complete the implementation of MHHS in December 2026, we will be processing 500 billion meter readings per year," Elexon CEO Peter Stanley said at the company's annual meeting.

"When making this data available, we will ensure that we fully comply with regulator Ofgem's emerging data sharing consent framework, which will protect consumers when they share their data with trusted market participants," he said.

Addressing the meeting, Ofgem's Head of Energy System Digitalization, Liam Bennett, said the regulator planned to consult on consumer consent this summer.

"We want to create a culture change by moving from siloed data as the value driver, to having insights offered on more accessible data as the value driver," he said.

This would allow companies to use advanced digital techniques to drive efficiencies, he said.

Stanley said it had built its Data Integration Platform in the cloud to allow for future expansion.

"We've factored moving to 15-minute or even five-minute settlement. In addition, REMA [the ongoing review of electricity market arrangements] could have significant impacts, with a potential move from single zone to multiple price zones," he said.

Elexon will go live with its Data Integration Platform in 2025, offering suppliers messaging infrastructure to share smart meter readings with Elexon for settlement, the company said.

In future the DIP could provide other services in the electricity sector that require real-time messaging support, such as dispatch notifications between system operators, it said.

Elexon is the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) administrator for the Great British market, calculating and settling imbalances between electricity supply and demand. The BSC sets out the rules and procedures for electricity trading, metering and settlement.

Ofgem is considering whether Elexon or the future National Electricity System Operator should be appointed as market facilitator for power flexibility markets, a development seen as essential for integrating renewables, reducing network spend and accelerating decarbonization.

Ofgem forecasts MHHS could deliver up to GBP4.5 billion ($5.8 billion) of net benefits for GB consumers between 2021-45.

Power system balancing costs(opens in a new tab) have rocketed in recent years due to the relative inflexibility of the grid, requiring National Grid ESO to pay generators increasingly large amounts to turn up or down depending on location.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed GB day-ahead baseload power at GBP71.00/MWh July 11, down 3.7% day on day.