Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), the distribution network operator for central southern England and the north of Scotland, is testing new solutions and services to find new ways of managing peak electricity demand in the north of Scotland.

Dubbed ‘Demand Diversification’, the new approach will see the network operator conduct real-world trials to manage electricity demand including for electric vehicles. These will be augmented by simulations run with the teams at the University of Strathclyde’s Power Network Demonstration Centre (PNDC) and the Energy Systems Catapult, scaling up the data from the trials to give an accurate estimation of how this new solution would work at scale.

SSEN’s new solution recognises the peaks and troughs of grid demand by giving customers incentives to spread their demand to less busy times, tapping into the ability of technologies, such as EVs, heat pumps and electric storage heaters, to be scheduled to periods when network demand is lower.

The overarching priority for SSEN during this trial will be to ensure that its network continues to work in a safe, dependable, and enduring way.

One potential solution is to have Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs), suppliers and aggregators, assigned an ‘Allocated Capacity’ and agree to manage the aggregate demand from their consumers within this allocation. They will be paid when they do so.

As well as Allocated Capacity, another, more dynamic, solution is being trialled. Under ‘Dynamic Congestion Response’, FSPs will be provided with real-time network data and will be paid to schedule the loads in their portfolios to times of lower demand. Doing so will also trigger payment.

Kevin Stewart, projects manager in SSEN Distribution’s Future Networks team, said: “Electricity demand is going to grow exponentially, as more people stop using polluting fossil fuels, and instead move over to low-carbon technologies. A massive advantage of technologies such as heat pumps, EVs and electric storage heaters is that topping them up is schedulable – in other words, they can be charged at a time separate to when they’re needed.

“In our trial, we’re going to lean into this schedulable aspect of these technologies, to explore how we can use innovative approaches and new services to schedule electricity use over a much wider period.

“It’s paramount we manage the network in a safe, reliable, and enduring way. This trial will offer further insights into how this can be done; it’ll also provide us with an indication of the extent to which we’ll be able to use these flexible approaches to help meet growing electricity demand.”