Consultation on whether Metering Dispensation D/534 should be updated to cover CoP5 Issue 7
This generic Metering Dispensation consultation seek views from BSC Parties and Party Agents about whether D/534 should be updated to cover CoP5 Issue 7.
Status
Who will this impact?
This consultation impacts Registrants of Metering Systems for large Offshore wind farms and Central Volume Allocation (CVA) Meter Operator Agents who install, commission and maintain them.
Following some recent changes to Code of Practice (CoP) 5 Issue 6, generic Metering Dispensation D/534 needs to be updated to cover CoP5 Issue 7 to allow this Direct Current (DC) metering solution to continue to be used for DC Metering Systems registered on or after 30 June 2022.
This is because Outstations will now need to comply with CoP5 Issue 7 and be protocol approved under BSCP601.
Elexon recommends that some changes to CoP5, need not be updated in D/534 i.e. shunts or Hall effect transducers used with the DC Meter types specified need not be equivalent to class 0.5s CTs but remain equivalent to class 0.5 CTs. Also, since the DC Meter types specified have an accuracy equivalent to a class 0.5 Meter, this exceeds the new minimum requirement in CoP5 (class 1 or B) and therefore does not need updating.
Consultation questions
Should Generic Metering Dispensation D/534 be updated to cover CoP5 Issue 7?
Next steps
We will present the updated application form and your responses to the SVG, at its meeting (SVG265) on 7 March 2023, for a decision.
We will also provide a verbal update to the ISG at its meeting (ISG263) on the same day.
Background to Metering Dispensation D/534
In January 2022, the SVG and the ISG approved generic Metering Dispensation D/534. D/534 provides a Central Volume Allocation (CVA) metering solution for measuring small Direct Current (DC) supplies to wind farm generator assets at Offshore wind farms.
This is because the BSC doesn’t make provisions for DC metering. The Metering Dispensation is against all the relevant clauses in CoP5 Issue 6, and CoP4 Issue 6, as they are specific to the metering of energy transfers on Alternating Current (AC) circuits.
D/534 covers the use of specific Hall Effect transducers (or any suitable shunts (i.e. resistors)), specific DC Meter types and any CoP5 Issue 6 compliance tested and protocol approved Outstation, dialled by the Central Data Collection Agent (CDCA), for use in Settlement. A condition of D/534 is that the DC Meters are not used for customer billing purposes under the Electricity Act 1989.
On 30 June 2022, Elexon implemented CP1527 and it changed the Issue numbers of CoPs 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10, by one, as it introduced new Outstation requirements.
Outstations now need to store up to 90 days’ worth of Half Hourly data per Outstation channel, up from the minimum requirement of 10 days for CoPs 1 and 2 Outstations and 20 days for CoPs 3, 5 and 10 Outstations.
Elexon raised a generic Metering Dispensation against these CoPs, D/535, which the SVG and the ISG approved on 11 January 2022. This allows Outstations that comply with previous Issues of CoP 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 to be registered for Settlement purposes, until 30 December 2023.
Elexon also implemented CP1553 on 30 June 2022 and CoPs 3, 5 and 10 now require class 0.5s current transformers (CTs), instead of class 0.5 CTs. CP1553 also changed CoP5 to require class 1 or B Meters, instead of class 2 or A Meters.
Elexon raised a generic Metering Dispensation, D/544, which the SVG approved on 7 June 2022. This allows existing stock of class 0.5 CTs and class 2 or A Meters to be registered for Settlement purposes until 30 December 2023.