Our 2019/20 BSC Annual Report
Today (30 June) we have published our Annual Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) Report for 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. The report gives many examples of how Elexon and the BSC Panel have worked together to proactively manage the BSC and support moves to a smarter, more flexible electricity system.
Summary of the report
The report summarises progress in delivering the Elexon 2019/20 business plan.
This included, in addition to providing our core Settlement services, work streams to:
- support innovation and new business models
- the development of flexibility markets
- getting involved in cross-industry initiatives such as the Energy Data Taskforce.
The report highlights milestones that Elexon has achieved including:
- working alongside National Grid ESO to deliver ‘Wider Access’ to the Balancing Mechanism (BM) on time in December 2019, so that independent aggregators can play a bigger role in offering demand-side response
- Gaining approval from Ofgem in October 2019 for the design of the Target Operating Model (TOM) for Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS) and the transition approach. This was the culmination of two years’ work for the Elexon-led Design Working Group
- delivering the Settlement Solution for our new digital platform (previously known as the Foundation Programme), which will modernise the technical architecture of BSC systems
- our subsidiary, EMR Settlement (EMRS), managing the process for ensuring that deferred payments relating to the standstill period for the Capacity Market were collected and paid to capacity providers in January 2020.
Working in partnership with stakeholders and sharing our expertise
Elexon’s Chief Executive, Mark Bygraves, said:
‘Over the past year we have demonstrated our ability to work in partnership with our stakeholders to deliver major reforms. The opening up of the Balancing Mechanism to Wider Access is a major step forward for the smarter electricity system.
‘Our continued support for the Ofgem and BEIS Energy Codes Review, the prominent role we played in the Energy Data Taskforce, and our proposals for flexibility platforms are all examples of where we offered our expertise to stakeholders in policy development.
‘Since mid-March 2020, we have also worked alongside the BSC Panel and the Performance Assurance Board to quickly and resolutely put in place support measures to help electricity companies manage the impact of COVID-19.
‘I would like to thank all of my Elexon colleagues for their hard work and dedication over the past year. My thanks also go to members of the BSC Panel and its sub-committees for their continued support in delivering our work.’
Key statistics on our performance over 2019/20
Our achievements over the past year include:
- Helping 37 new companies through the market entry process for the BSC
- Implementing 16 BSC Modifications and 11 BSC Change Proposals
- Carrying out 2,560 Settlement Runs
- Welcoming 369 attendees to our Introduction to the Energy Market seminars