The future net zero energy system must be properly balanced, says the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) in newly published proposals for electricity system operations reform under the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA).
Its latest report, ‘Finding the Balance for a Net Zero Future’, outlines five pillars that should underpin the operation of an efficient net zero electricity system and the proposals for making them happen. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has identified the need for new approaches in how we operate the electricity system as a key element of the case for change in REMA. However, the ADE states that reforms needed to balance the system and keep it operable have not been analysed sufficiently.
In the paper the ADE has devised five principles, or ‘pillars’, that must underpin a decentralised, net zero energy system:
- Balancing is decarbonised
- Assets can participate in balancing on equal terms, without regard to their size
- Dispatch decision-making is efficient and transparent
- Grid reinforcement is not the sole answer to physical constraints
- Balancing is cost-effective against outages
Sarah Honan, Flexibility Policy Manager at the ADE, said:
Many of the more radical electricity market reforms we’ve seen debated over the past 18 months have, at their core, stemmed from a lack of confidence in our current systems’ and structures’ capability to deliver net zero.
However, options for operational reform, beyond the remit of the wholesale market, have become somewhat lost in these discussions. Moreover, the timeline for how reforms will interact and provide stepping stones throughout the 2020s to increasingly transformative change by 2035 has not been addressed. Recognising the problems of today, how they will evolve in the future, and how we can change trajectory is our core priority throughout this paper. Exponential increase in low carbon flexibility is the only path for reaching net zero in a cost-effective way. Certainty of direction, consistency of delivery, and when the time comes, clarity of design will provide industry and other stakeholders with the confidence needed to invest in flexibility.
