Britain’s first independent DSO launched

UK Power Networks has launched Britain’s first independent Distribution System Operator (DSO) under the direction of Sotiris Georgiopoulos.

UK Power Networks states that its new DSO will ensure that sufficient electricity capacity exists across London and the east and southeast of England to support the anticipated uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and renewables generation.

The DSO is working to incentivise customers to shift their energy consumption or generation, to maximise use of its existing electricity grid infrastructure and facilitate the lowest cost transition for customers adopting low carbon technologies.

“The DSO marks the start of a new era for electricity networks across the UK,” commented UK Power Networks CEO Basil Scarsella.

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“We are pleased to be leading the way in supporting the energy transition through the launch of our DSO. It is an independent, legally separate entity, which we are confident will bring savings to customers, inform our network investment decisions in the most cost-efficient way and help facilitate the transition to net zero.”

The director of the DSO is Sotiris Georgiopoulos, who has made his career with UK Power Networks and most recently served as head of smart grid development with responsibility inter alia for delivery of the company’s flexibility markets and the DSO capabilities and programmes.

UK Power Networks currently has 7.4GW of renewable energy connected to its network and is preparing for 2.6 million EVs in its regions by 2028, compared to 450,000 vehicles currently charging from its grid.

The role of the DSO will be to make decisions, independent from the DNO, on the most cost-effective way of expanding the capacity of the network.

As different areas decarbonise at different rates, clusters of low-carbon technologies are expected to emerge. The DSO function will assess the most efficient route to providing capacity for these technologies to connect, whether it be building more assets or procuring flexibility.

Overall, the company’s analysis shows that the DSO could deliver wider system savings of between £780 million ($962 million) and £2.6 billion ($3.2 billion) across its service region by 2040.

Earlier this month, UK Power Networks DSO awarded more than 1GW of contracts to flexibility providers to compete to provide a flexibility requirement of 426MW, including the first contracts to increase demand or turn down supply during periods of excess power.

The DSO has committed to saving customers £410 million ($505 million) over the next five years by using flexibility to deliver capacity on the network at lower cost than building new infrastructure.

All of Britain’s network operators are in the process of transitioning to DSOs. The three DSO roles defined by the regulator Ofgem are planning and network development, network operation and market development.

Key activities for the operators for 2023 include making it easier for flexibility service providers to participate in the flexibility market by standardising products, processes and contracts.