The National Grid has activated the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), a scheme that compensates electricity users for reducing consumption, in anticipation of freezing temperatures causing a surge in electricity demand.
Initiated by the National Grid to address potential electricity shortages during periods of high demand, such as during freezing temperatures, the DFS program compensates homeowners and businesses.
Starting Wednesday night, participants will receive payments for voluntarily limiting their electricity usage, helping to maintain a buffer of spare capacity in the electricity supply and preventing blackouts. The scheme aims to enhance grid reliability during peak demand periods.
Approximately 1.4 million households and businesses have enrolled in the program, receiving payments of up to £10 a day. This marks the first utilisation of the service this winter, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings for parts of northern and eastern Scotland, northeast England, and Yorkshire owing to expected snow and ice.
Centrica, owner of British Gas, has also initiated gas release from the Rough storage site, located 18 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, to meet heating demand.
Chris O’Shea, Centrica chief executive, emphasised the importance of gas storage, saying, “Gas storage is vital to ensure the UK can manage demand effectively, keeping prices down, and Rough contributes more than 50 percent of the UK’s total gas storage.”
Despite this move, the UK faces challenges owing to limited gas storage compared to European counterparts.
Warning Over Rural Areas
David Bean, parliament and government relations manager at the Countryside Alliance, raised concerns about the impact of low energy capabilities on rural areas, stating, “The need for a Demand Flexibility Service highlights the strain our energy system is under, which is particularly significant in rural areas where grid capacity has struggled to keep up with demand that will only increase in line with ambitions to electrify most road transport.”Talking to The Epoch Times via email, Mr. Bean spoke of a potential “disproportionate burden” for rural areas without urban centres taking on a fair share.
He said, “A parliamentary committee recently heard that renewable energy generation will need to reach 300GW by 2035 from a current level of 120GW, an increase of two-and-a-half times in 17 years.
“We’ve campaigned to ensure that rural areas won’t have to bear a disproportionate burden in housing all this new generation capacity: urban areas need to bear their load too, particularly by siting generation, such as solar panels, on buildings and brownfield land. Rural areas will also need major investment in grid infrastructure so that they can continue to access enough electricity to meet their needs.”
Timings for DFS Event
The DFS scheme, which last winter saw 1.6 million households and businesses participating with 31 registered providers, will be tested again from Wednesday evening.The test event will be conducted in phases among energy providers, with some called upon to participate from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and others from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
During 22 events last year, the National Grid ESO claims the scheme successfully saved over 300MWh of electricity, equivalent to powering almost 10 million homes.
