Pioneering Energy Deal Agreed
Western Power Distribution (WPD) has signed a Demand Side Management Agreement with battery storage provider Anesco, believed to be one of the first of its kind in the UK.
Demand side management is the term used to describe an agreement between an electricity distribution company and a customer to operate their electricity consumption at a lower capacity in a pre-determined period of time, in return for reduced extra high voltage (EHV) charges.
Simon Yeo, Income Manager for WPD said: “This approach benefits both Anesco and WPD's wider customer base in providing long term network security while reducing the need and cost for additional network reinforcement.
“It also demonstrates the benefits of battery storage in a world of network capacity constraints.”
Mike Ryan, Asset Management Director from Anesco, added: “This is a solution which provides value to the customers of both Anesco and WPD and demonstrates yet another way batteries bring benefits to the system. We look forward to other DNOs learning from WPD's leadership in this area. It's been fantastic to work with Simon and the team at WPD to achieve this first-of-its-kind solution.”
To date the focus on batteries providing flexibility to the system has been on how that flexibility can earn revenue. However, as this solution demonstrates it is also possible to provide flexibility to the system in a way which reduces the assets operating costs.
The storage market is a rapidly evolving, dynamic environment. Asset owners and operators need to be cognisant not just of their revenue streams, both current and future, but also of their operating costs and the interaction between the two. It is through the successful optimisation of both of these areas that batteries can succeed.
