MPs: Split up National Grid

The energy and climate change select committee has called on the UK government to split up National Grid to radically change the way power transmission and distribution is operated.

The ECCC’s Low Carbon Network Infrastructure inquiry report recommends transferring system operation from National Grid to an independent system operator at the national level and distribution system operators at the regional level.

The committee argues that despite the “astonishing growth” in generation connected directly to regional networks, distribution network operators remain “somewhat blind” to their energy flows and are “passive” in managing them.

DNOs must transition to a more active role as distribution system operators, it argued, so that they can use smart technologies to manage ever-more complicated energy flows.

The report states: “Despite strong efforts by National Grid itself and Ofgem to mitigate the potential for conflicts of interest, it seems intractable and growing.

“Unnecessary asset development, or giving interconnectors an unfair advantage over existing and emerging balancing tools, could dilute the impact of other efforts to develop low-carbon network infrastructure.”

CCC chair Angus Brendan MacNeil said: “National Grid’s technical expertise in operating the national energy system must be weighed against its potential conflicts of interest. The ISO model has worked in the US, it is time for it to be brought to these shores.”

The report’s other recommendations include energy storage to be deployed at scale as soon as possible; expansion of interconnection to help balance a low-carbon network.

The ECCC also called for indicative targets for biomethane and hydrogen deployment in the gas grid and a regulatory framework overseen by Ofgem to encourage investment in district heating.

Image: T pylon (National Grid)