Launch of ‘Real-time Power Flow Data Access’ heralds next wave of digitalisation

The release of our Real-Time Power Flow Data Access signals the next wave of our ground-breaking digitalisation programme.

The new data access tool gives customers and stakeholders access to live data on energy production and use across our region.

It will allow customers, academics and innovators to view live information on electricity demand, import and generation across our network. The solution will also display historic data, supporting in-depth comparisons and research by third parties. Users will be able to dive into the data, accessing generation split by key types such as solar and wind, providing a deep understanding of the make-up of energy on the network in real-time.

Our ambition is that the real-time data resource will provide three key benefits to network stakeholders:

1. Better connections and planning - Customers, local councils and low carbon energy developers will have greater information to make informed decisions, helping to plan where to most efficiently connect new EV charging stations, solar or wind farm generation, or where capacity is available for a new housing development.

2. Supporting cutting edge research - The real-time data will also help academics and researchers to better understand the operation of the UK electricity network. In combination with other datasets, our real-time data will help researchers monitor the UK energy network’s response to live events, such as storms and surges in demand, enabling them to more accurately forecast the UK’s future energy and infrastructure needs.

3. Democratising innovation - Echoing the success of TfL’s open data policy supporting innovative services like Citymapper, we’re aiming to foster a new generation of smart, low carbon energy innovators. These data-led innovators could develop technologies that automatically help customers to minimise their fuel bills or plan a new grid connection. By allowing greater access to its network data, we’re empowering a wider group of energy innovators to develop the next big idea.

Jonathan Berry, DSO Digitalisation and Data Manager, said: “Feedback from our customers and stakeholders makes it clear that access to real-time data is a key area of interest. Understanding what is happening across the network on a real-time basis will become increasingly important to our customers, helping them to make better operational decisions.”

Having released the initial tranche of data as part of the programme, we’re now planning to increase the detail and granularity of the data. This will provide more regional views, right down to primary substation level, further increasing the value to customers. Our teams are working to make this localised data available in 2021.

Click here to view the new data access tool.