List of BSC Insights
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.
BSC Insight: Accessing Maximum Export Limit and Maximum Import Limit data on our Insights Solution
If you currently use the www.bmreports.com service to access Balancing Mechanism (BM) data, you can now access the data through the new Insights Solution. You can use the ‘Balancing Mechanism data by Market View’ page to view BM Unit data at Market level. It can also be used to view Physical, Dynamic, Bid Offer and Balancing Services Volume data.
BSC Insights: Using Open Data to map the financial impacts of failed Suppliers
In this BSC Insight, Muhammad Raees Usman, Product Analyst in our Analysis & Insight Team, outlines how you can use newly Open Data from the BSC Modification P398 Open Data Request service to gain an insight into the energy market. He does this in view of the unprecedented market conditions experienced in the second half of 2021 and how these conditions led to a substantial number of Supplier default events. The article also provides an insight in to how Python can be used to ingest Open data files for analysis.
BSC Insights: Using the Insights Solution to predict Capacity Market Notices
In this BSC Insight, Angus Fairbairn outlines how you can use forecast data from the Kinnect Insights Solution to monitor generation, demand and margins preceding events on the GB Electricity System. He does this through the lens of the summer 2022 heatwave and the resulting Capacity Market Notices (CMNs).
BSC Insights: How we use the Annual Demand Ratio to maintain accuracy of Settlement data
In this insight article Mehdi Jafari and Jason Jackson explain what the Annual Demand Ratio (ADR) is, how it helps us maintain the accuracy of Settlement data, and what we are doing to resolve potential errors indicated by the ADR.
BSC Insights: The Insights solution puts data on the wholesale market at your fingertips
In this BSC Insight article by Reza Nia, Head of Analysis & Insight, explains why Elexon developed a new data service (the Insights Solution) and the benefits of it to BSC Parties and other stakeholders. All of the Insights Solution data is available to download for free.
BSC Insight: ‘Event-driven’ architecture can help to release the value of energy data
This BSC Insight article, written by Peter Stanley, Director Digital Operations at Elexon, explains why Elexon would be best placed to operate ‘Event-driven’ IT architecture (EDA) to support Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement which is due to be implemented in GB in October 2025.
BSC Insights: Why did the average System Price increase in 2021?
In this BSC Insight our Senior Product Analyst, Emma Tribe, shows how the high wholesale gas prices have caused System Prices to increase to record levels in 2021.
BSC Insight: What is Credit Cover and how does the Credit Assessment Price affect it?
The Credit Assessment Price has changed nine times in 2021 and we recently consulted on increasing the Credit Assessment Price again to a record high of £184/MWh. The Credit Assessment Price is used as a proxy for future Energy Imbalance Prices in the calculation of Credit Cover requirements. Emma Tribe, our Senior Product Analyst from the Analysis and Insights team, explains how the Credit Assessment Price is related to a Parties Credit Cover requirements.
BSC Insight: What is driving the latest increases in Credit Assessment Price?
In this BSC Insight article, Mehdi Jafari outlines the recent trends in forward market prices and how we measure the Credit Assessment Price (CAP) process effectiveness against the System Buy Price. The article also provides an update on our Insight Article in May 2021, where the sixth CAP change of 2021 was in process.
BSC Insight: How to find your own insights from Supplier Market Share data
In this BSC Insight, Emma Tribe our Senior Product Analyst and Nick Groves our Data Steward Lead, demonstrate some of the insights that are possible using data from the Quarterly Supplier Market Share report from Elexon.
BSC Insight: Update on Settlement Performance during the COVID-19 pandemic
In this Insight article, Mehdi Jafari provides an update on the Settlement Performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This BSC Insight follows on from a previous BSC Insight we published to show how COVID-19 pandemic had affected suppliers’ performance in 2020.
BSC Insight: Why Non Half Hourly electricity use increased in the first four months of 2021
In this insight article Emma Tribe, our Analysis and Insight Senior Product Analyst, explains how the colder temperatures between January and April 2021 increased Non Half-Hourly electricity demand.
BSC Insight: Update on Demand Reduction during COVID-19 lockdown
In this BSC Insight, Hussein Osman uses the latest data from BMRS and our internal databases to compare the changes in demand following Government advice that people stay at home with the demand patterns from similar periods in previous years.
BSC insight: Forward Market Prices drive six CAP value reviews this year
We issued a consultation on changing the Credit Assessment Price (CAP) value on 17 May 2021. This is the sixth time in 2021 that the CAP value is going to change. This is the most CAP change events to occur in the first five months of the year since the CAP weekly monitoring process was introduced in 2007.
BSC insight: How Covid-19 impacts Load Profiles
There are two different types of data that the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) requires for electricity Settlement; Half Hourly and Non Half Hourly. Electricity Settlement happens in Half Hourly periods, so Elexon uses the profiling process to calculate Half Hourly data from Non Half Hourly meters. In this Insight article, Mehdi Jafari discusses the Group Average Demand data used in the profiling process and the way it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
BSC Insight: the impact of Trading Charges in 2020/21
In the 2020/21 financial year, the absolute cashflow for BSC Trading Charges was £2.96bn. This was the most cashflow settled in a financial year. In this BSC Insight our Analysis and Insight Senior Product Analyst, Emma Tribe, explains how BSC Trading Charges are settled by Elexon.
BSC Insight: Unprecedented Price Spikes in 2021
In 2021, we have seen the highest System Prices since 2001, which was the first year of the New Electricity Trading Arrangement. The highest price this year was £4,000/MWh on 8 January in Settlement Periods 39 and 40. On 12 April 2021, the System Price was over £1,000/MWh for five consecutive Settlement Periods. In this BSC Insight, one of our Product Analysts, Angus Fairbairn, looks into how and why these high prices occur.
BSC Insight: Reliant on the weather? A review of weather dependent generation in GB
The British have always felt a strong connection to the weather. A typical conversation in any part of the country will generally include a reference to either how: hot, cold, rainy, windy, sunny or grey the weather is! In the last 10 years, the weather has also begun to fuel our day-to-day lives as more weather dependent generation has been used in the fuel mix. This is making Britain greener and helping the nation reach its goal of NetZero by 2050. In this Insight Emma Tribe, our Analysis and Insight Delivery Lead, shows how Great Britain’s fuel mix is connected to the weather more than ever through an increase in weather dependent generation.
BSC Insight: Increasing costs for balancing the GB System
The Electricity System Operator (ESO) plays an essential role in balancing supply and demand using the Balancing Mechanism (BM). Matching supply and demand requires payments to be made between the ESO and participating consumers and generators. Consumers and generators submit prices for volumes of energy they can provide within a half-hour period (Settlement Period) to balance the system. In this Insight article, analyst Angus Fairbairn looks at balancing costs of ESO since 2015.
BSC Insights: a review of 2020
COVID-19 dominated the news in 2020; however, it was not all that happened. In this article, the Analysis and Insight team review 2020 and focus on the consistencies and inconsistencies witnessed. They use BMRS data to review the Fuel Mix, the make-up of BSC Parties, the Energy Imbalance Volume, and the overall electricity demand. While all of these were impacted by COVID-19, the data also demonstrates some consistencies with previous years despite COVID-19’s impact.
BSC Insight: Impact of COVID-19 on smart meter installations
The restrictions introduced in 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19 have provided unprecedented challenges for Suppliers as they continue to install smart meters. In this Insight article, our Analysis and Insight Analyst Hussein Osman, reviews the installation rates of Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications SMETS2 meters before, during, and after the March to June and November to December 2020 lockdowns.
BSC Insight: Why the Reserve Scarcity Price is being reviewed
National Grid ESO raised BSC Issue Group 92 to review the Reserve Scarcity Price with representatives from across the electricity industry. The need for this arose due to feedback from industry representatives that the Reserve Scarcity Price has had less of an impact on System Prices than expected and a need to ensure the calculation is fit for a future energy market.
BSC Insights: Great Britain’s first coal-free Christmas occurs in 2020
Mehdi Jafari investigates the electricity generation and demand over the Christmas period 2020.
BSC Insights: The ways P350 has changed allocation of Transmission Losses
In this Insight article, Mehdi Jafari considers the way implementation of Modification P350 changed the allocation of Transmission Losses.
BSC Insights: How Covid-19 has affected estimated data in Settlement
We monitor Supplier Performance in relation to the volume of estimated and actual data in Settlement. In this insight article, our Analysis and Insight Delivery Lead, Emma Tribe looks at the impact COVID-19 had on Supplier Performance during the first lockdown.
BSC Insights: Code Governance Review
This Elexon insight offers our view of how energy codes (the commercial arrangements underpinning the energy system) could be consolidated and simplified for the benefit of new entrants and energy […]
Insights: Update on Demand Reduction during COVID-19 lockdown
In this Insight, our Data & Insight Analyst, Nick Baker provides an update to the reduced electricity demand during lockdown article with the latest findings. The new graphs can be used to track electricity demand changes in Great Britain as COVID-19 restrictions start to ease.
BSC Insights: Negative System Prices during COVID-19
While much of the UK economy was shut down between mid-March and Mid-June, due to measures to manage COVID-19, the UK electricity market has seen an increase in negative System Prices. In this Elexon Insight, Emma Tribe explains why this was the case and shows the trends for negative System Prices in April and May 2020.
Insights: Electricity demand down by 17% during COVID-19 lockdown
Measures put in place by the UK Government to control the COVID-19 outbreak have resulted in electricity demand falling sharply in the GB electricity market, according to Elexon data estimates. In this Elexon Insight, our Data & Insight Analyst, Nick Baker investigates the scale of the demand reduction.
BSC Insights: Highest System Price in 19 years
The System Price reached £2,242/MWh and £1,708/MWh in the early evening of Wednesday 4 March 2020. This was the first instance of the System Price being over £2,000/MWh since 2001. In this Elexon Insight our Market Advisor, Emma Tribe explains how the System Price was calculated and how it compares to historic System Prices.
Insights: The electricity industry – ten years of change
The 2010s were a period of significant change for both Elexon and the wider industry. The shifts seen during the span of ten years were both unprecedented and unpredicted. Elexon provides a wealth of data to industry via the Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service (BMRS), Elexon Portal and through data flows. Using some of this data we have created four graphs that reflect on significant changes to generation, demand and balancing between 2010 and 2019.
Insights: Low CO2 fuel sources powered 2019
Nearly half of all the electricity generated in Great Britain in 2019 was generated by low CO2 generation. In this Elexon Insight, our Market Advisor Emma Tribe uses electricity generation data to show how 2019 was powered demonstrate how the electricity market is on the road to Net Zero.
BSC Insights: Sub-zero electricity prices in December
Too much electricity generation in Great Britain pushed prices sub-zero for 13 hours. Occurring on the night of 7 December and morning of 8 December, BSC Parties were paid to consume energy. In this Elexon Insight our Market Advisor, Emma Tribe, uses Elexon’s open data from BMRS to explain why the prices were negative.
BSC Insights: How we can streamline the Modification Process
Published: November 2019 Based on our latest Policy View, Elexon could deliver ‘quick wins’ to bring about a faster, more consistent process for making changes to the 11 energy industry […]
BSC Insights: Interconnector flows in and out of Great Britain
Great Britain is connected to the rest of Europe through five interconnectors with a combined capacity of 5,000MW. So far this year 9.2% of Great Britain’s energy demand has been […]
BSC Insights: Identifying Settlement risks just got easier
Published: October 2019 We have listened to concerns of BSC Parties and we’ve implemented two major changes that will help Settlement risk and error. Managing the Settlement process Managing […]
BSC Insights: How flexibility markets could help trade in unused electricity and spare network capacity
Elexon is proposing that nationwide electricity ‘flexibility platforms’ are set up so that offers to provide ‘demand-side response’, or output from electricity storage facilities can be traded easily.
The buyers of storage output or demand-side response (DSR) services could include local electricity Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) suppliers and businesses.
Published: October 2019
BSC Insights: Independent analysis backs the case for code reforms
Angela Love, Director of Strategy and Communications at Elexon, discusses analysis which Elexon commissioned from consultants, Cornwall Insight on options for reforming the energy codes. Published: July 2019 Options for […]
BSC Insights: What is Driving Increases in Electricity Imbalance Volumes?
Daily average Energy Imbalance volumes have doubled between 2014 and 2019. In this Elexon Insight, one of our Business Intelligence Analysts, Emma Tribe, investigates the drivers behind the increase in […]
BSC Insights: Imbalance Charging, where does the money go?
In this Elexon Insight one of our Business Intelligence Analysts, Emma Tribe, explains energy imbalance cash flow and how leftover amounts are redistributed among BSC Parties. This article highlights how we calculate payments that come into Elexon and how, as a not-for-profit organisation the way they are calculated means we receive no financial gain.
Published: June 2019
Elexon Insight: We could provide settlement services for low carbon heat
In this Elexon Insight Thomas Demetriades, Strategy Analyst, discusses the potential for more heat networks to be developed in Britain, and the support that Elexon could offer towards this. Published: May […]
BSC Insight: Rapid decline in coal-fired generation
In this Insight piece, Angus Fairbairn, Market Analyst at Elexon, looks at the data behind the major reduction in coal generation in Britain which has been making headlines in April […]
BSC Insights: Imbalance Prices go negative on 24 March 2019
The 24 March 2019 saw the longest continuous period of negative Imbalance Prices since a single Imbalance Price was introduced in November 2015. In this article Emma Tribe explains what negative Imbalance Prices are, when they have been occurring, and what Elexon’s data shows about the trends.
BSC Insights: Keeping costs down when Suppliers fail
Roger Harris, Market Operations Manager at Elexon, looks at the number of recent Supplier failures and the issue of Supplier of Last Resort processes and costs. Earlier in March another […]
BSC Insights: Imbalance Prices with new CADL and DMAT
Emma Tribe’s insight article highlights the potential impact of changes to the De Minimis Acceptance Threshold and the Continuous Acceptance Duration Limit which take effect on 1 April 2019. The […]
BSC Insights: Our views on the next network price controls
In this insight piece, Jeremy Caplin, Market Architect at Elexon, talks about our response to Ofgem’s consultation on the methodology it will use to reset the network price controls from […]
BSC Insights: System Prices in 2018
In this Elexon Insight, Nick Baker, one of our Market Analysts, takes a detailed look at System Prices across 2018. What does the data tell us and were there circumstances […]
BSC Insights: Defaults and SoLRs increased in 2018
In this Elexon Insight, Emma Tribe, Business Intelligence Analyst, looks at the data behind these defaults and the 1.85% of electricity meters that have been transferred to a Supplier of […]
BSC Insights: What’s the impact of changing DMAT and CADL?
Elexon are currently consulting on two Imbalance Price Calculation parameters. Emma Tribe’s insight article highlights the potential impact on prices of changing the De Minimis Acceptance Threshold (DMAT) and the […]
BSC Insights: reviewing our introduction seminar
Elexon runs the introduction seminar five times per year and after each event we get feedback from those who attended as well as from those who presented. Jessica’s article explains […]
BSC Insights: Negative short System Price on 18 September 2018
Emma Tribe’s SPAR insight article looks at Settlement Period 9 on 18 September 2018, when the System Price was -£6.25/MWh. In this Settlement Period the system was short, and the […]
BSC Insights: Audit results suggest issues for TAA Inspection Visits
Kat Higby and Jason Jackson recap on the concerns raised during the Performance Assurance Board (PAB)’s review of Technical Assurance Agent (TAA) Inspection Visits for 2017/18. The findings indicate that […]
BSC Insights: 1 November 2018 changes to the System Price Calculation
Emma Tribe’s article looks at how the November 2018 BSC Modification P305 changes can impact System Prices. Published: September 2018 Recalculating System Prices with November 2018 changes show that prices […]
BSC Insights: Innovation and change – making it real
Mark Bygraves, CEO at Elexon, attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies (PGES) and has produced an insight article on how he thinks the industry can introduce innovation and change.
Published: June 2018
BSC insights: Unlocking the benefits to end consumers
Nick Rubin looks at the transformations and challenges that exist in the electricity market and considers ways of unlocking the benefits to end consumers. This insight article was written as […]
BSC Insights: The Imbalance Price Olympics
Emma Tribe’s article highlights how the Imbalance Price made a high jump on 17 May 2017 as it rose above £1,000/MWh between 15:30 and 17:00. The high prices seen in […]
BSC Insights: First day off for coal in 130 years…
David Thomas and Emma Tribe write about Friday 21 April 2017 which was the first day in 130 years where no electricity was generated by coal in the UK. But what’s filling the gap?
BSC Insights: Zonal Transmission Losses
This BSC Insight provides background information to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) remedy relating to the allocation of transmission losses set out in the CMA’s report of its investigation into the energy market.
Published: April 2018
BSC Insights: Impact of temperature on System Prices
Thomas Demetriades looks at how the temperature influences the System Price. When we feel more extreme temperatures (temperatures greater than 25°C or lower than 5°C) the system is Short in 66% of Settlement Periods.
Published: August 2018
BSC Insights: Replacement Price setting the Imbalance Price
Emma Tribe’s SPAR insight article looks at how often the Replacement Price is calculated using the Market Index Price (MIP). Where there are no priced actions, the Replacement Price sets […]
BSC Insights: How tagging changes the System Price
Emma Tribe’s SPAR insight article takes a detailed look at how tagging affects the System Price calculation. By removing volumes from the top or bottom of the pricing stack the […]
BSC Insights: white paper on multiple providers
Jon Spence’s white paper offers an Elexon view of how BSC central services could be adapted to offer Settlement solutions in support of individual customers buying electricity from more than […]
BSC Insights: System Prices from 2001 to 2016
Emma Tribe’s article, A price for all seasons, time travels with System Prices looking at seasonal trends from 2001 to 2016. It uses analysis from the System Price Analysis Report (SPAR) August 2017. Published: […]
BSC Insights: P305 post implementation review
Emma Tribe’s 12 month review of P305, which was implemented in November 2015, and referred to the calculation of the cash-out price. This insight article presents factual information rather than […]
BSC insights: The BSC Panel, a template for panel constitution?
This Insight article looks at why the BSC Panel model is frequently cited as one of the better models for ensuring broad representation of stakeholders to feel they are engaged and their views understood within the code panel.
Published: August 2017