BSC Insight: How to get more detailed metered volume data from our Insights Solution
Through the electricity Settlement process Elexon obtains metered volume data which shows the generation and demand volumes of electricity for each Balancing Mechanism Unit (BMU) on the system and whether this is an estimated or actual value. This data is included in our SAA-I014 report which covers all Settlement activity for every half hour, each day and it is easily accessible on our wholesale market data service the Insights Solution.
Providing transparency
Providing metered volume data is important for transparency, so that market participants and other interested parties can view actual activity of generators, and consumers. This data is included in our SAA I014 report which covers all Settlement activity for every half hour, each day.
Metered volume data on the Insights Solution
On our Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service (BMRS) you can view metered volume data, but due to limitations it only makes generation data per BMU available for the Interim Information (II) Settlement Run (after 5 working days).
With the Insights Solution, you can access metered volume data (in MWh) for all BMUs regardless of whether they are generating, or consuming (i.e. positive / negative or zero MWh values.) The data will be accessible after 5 working days and will be refreshed with later Settlement Run types, and therefore will always show the most accurate data for a given Settlement Date. This means that after 16 working days, the II data will be replaced by Initial Settlement Run (SF) data etc.
Using the Insights Solution APIs (B1610-actual generation per generation unit) you can request the metered volume for all BMUs over a time range period of your choosing. The response from the API will be unrestricted while using the stream B1610 endpoint, whereas on the legacy BMRS B1610 API endpoint, you can only request one day’s worth of data at a time.
We are now back-filling historical data on the new Insights Solution API, so that by January 2024 we expect that you will be able to access older data sets (further back than June 2023).
In the future we want to improve the accessibility of the SAA-I014 data and we plan to slice the report into smaller queryable API datasets.
How to get metered volume data on the Insights Solution
To see metered volume data click ‘data services’ on the Insights Solution home page, and choose ‘API documentation’
In the endpoint search, type ‘B1610 Stream’. Then click GET /datasets/B1610/stream
Follow these steps:
- On the ‘Actual Generation Output Per Generation Unit (B1610) stream’ Click ‘Try it Out’ at the top right of the screen.
- Choose the timeframe for the data you want to see. For example, if you are looking for data from 11 July 2023 to 11 August 2023 type: 2023-07-11T00:00Z in the ‘from’ field and 2023-08-11T00:00Z in the ‘to’ field.
- Then enter the Settlement Periods you are interested in (from 1 to 48).
- If you want to see data from all BMUs remove the BM Unit ID.
- Then click ‘execute’
The API developer portal has been designed to review API parameters and schema details, rather than using it to routinely request data. As the web browser may not be able to render large responses you would need to programmatically script the API, or use, a RESTful API client.
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Sign up to receive instant data updates
All of our data sets on the Insights Solution are available in near real time through our Insights Solution Realtime Information Service (IRIS). It’s a free service providing an automated push of JSON files as they come in, with minimal latency and automatic outage recovery.
Need help on the Insights Solution or setting up the APIs?
If you need any help with the Insights Solution including setting up IRIS, or using the APIs, please contact the BSC Service Desk.