Elexon has today published its first Digitalisation Strategy and Action Plan (DSAP), which details how we will make half-hourly consumption data available to companies and innovators once Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS) is live. This is a key enabler for demand-side response and flexibility needed to achieve a Net Zero energy system.
Launching the DSAP at Elexon’s annual meeting on 11 July, Chief Executive, Peter Stanley, said:
“Elexon already provides open and free access to the largest data sets available on the wholesale electricity market. Our role in data provision will increase significantly once MHHS is implemented through our data repository, which is accessible for industry-wide use.
“Once live, Elexon will provide access to half-hourly consumption data so that it can support the innovation needed to reach Net Zero and help consumers obtain the benefits of providing flexibility. When making this data available, we will ensure that we fully comply with Ofgem’s emerging data sharing consent framework which will protect consumers when they share their data with trusted market participants.”
“Network companies are obliged by Ofgem to publish a DSAP. As a code manager, Elexon is not covered by this requirement. However, we believe it is important to demonstrate to our stakeholders and the wider energy sector, what they can expect from us in the coming years and collaborate with them on data best practice.”
Once we complete the implementation of MHHS in December 2026, we will be processing 500 billion meter readings per year (1.5bn meter readings per day).
Availability of half-hourly consumption data from every home and business across Great Britain will support energy companies in developing a new range of time-of-use tariffs, where consumers will be encouraged to save money on their bills by adjusting their energy consumption behaviours and being more flexible when they use electricity.
The DSAP sets out our commitment to make the half-hourly data that we collect available for companies and innovators to use [once the implementation of MHHS is complete in December 2026]. We will make the data available on our Insights Solution platform.
Our DSAP also sets out how we will achieve the best value for the digital infrastructure we are building, and deliver improvements to make it easier for companies and innovators to understand the BSC.
Watch the video on the launch of the DSAP
We launched the DSAP at our annual meeting and seminar in July 2024:
Delivering the best value for industry’s investment in digital infrastructure
To support MHHS we have developed a Data Integration Platform which is the ‘next generation’ messaging infrastructure that Suppliers will use to share smart meter readings with Elexon for Settlement.
We have built the DIP in a way so that its role could be expanded beyond that of supporting MHHS. The DIP could, for example, provide other services in the electricity sector that require real-time messaging support, such as dispatch notifications between system operators.
Expanding the capability of our Digital Code website
In 2022 Elexon launched the Digital BSC, where we have digitised 9,000 pages of BSC documentation to make it easier for electricity companies and innovators to browse the content and understand BSC rules.
Over the next three years, we will expand the functionality of the Digital Code. This includes developing a chat bot to go live in 2025 which will help users by speeding up searching so they can interact more easily with the documents. We will also introduce API functionality so that users can automatically extract any content that is relevant to their role. This will help them to understand more easily and quickly, how BSC rules impact their business.