UTILITY WEEK | MAY 2021 |
5
KNOWLEDGE WORTH KEEPING
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The need for an FSO
isstrong and pressing
Ever since the government published its Energy White Paper in December 2020
there have been calls for more clarity on the various workstreams it proposed.
In the dying days of this parliament we • nally started to see some progress. As
the round-up overleaf explains, July saw updates on several net-zero pathways,
including - exibility, transport and storage.
The government and Ofgem also set out their initial views on the responsi-
bilities, ownership and structure of an independent energy system operator – a
topic discussed in a new Utility Week/Mott MacDonald report (p24-25).
The consultation suggests that a future system operator (FSO) could take on
the workload of the current Electricity System Operator (ESO) and ful• l the plan-
ning and strategy obligations for gas.
The initial views on potential extra responsibilities for an FSO show just how
integral this new body would be to Great Britain's net zero push. They include
imposing a statutory duty on the FSO to provide advice to government, Ofgem,
code managers, bodies such as the Climate Change Committee and councils. The
consultation sets out heat and transport decarbonisation as one area where the
FSO could play a key advisory role.
The FSO could also be tasked with stimulating competition in energy mar-
kets, taking on some secretary of state functions with regard to the capacity
market, managing certain data functions and an enhanced role in energy code
development.
Then there is the role the body could play in hydrogen and carbon capture,
utilisation and storage (CCUS). As well as enabling the expansion of these tech-
nologies, the consultation suggests that under some hydrogen scenarios, the gas
control room could be brought into the FSO.
Consultations are inherently broad in their approach but it is clear from what
is being considered that a future independent system operator will be hugely
in- uential body, and incredibly busy. This will be music to the ears of many in
the energy sector who have been calling for an overarching architect of the net
zero journey.
However, they would also add that there is a clear need for this body to
materialise as soon as possible, and certainly as we enter the late 2020s when
heat and transport decarbonisation will need to pick up signi• cantly. The worry
is that such a monster of an organisation will take years to develop.
This is why Simon Virley of KPMG, who has previously called for a national
energy agency to ful• l some of the responsibilities listed above, has urged the
government to set up the FSO now in shadow form.
The detail in this and other strategies is to be welcomed but pressure on the
government to turn ideas into actions will not let up.
James Wallin, editor, jameswallin@fav-house.com
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Letter from the Editor
James Wallin
Aligned Assets:
The rising cost of poor address
data
https://bit.ly/36XVnPL
Digital Wave Solutions:
Time to revive face-to-face
engagement?
https://bit.ly/3eJ6TmF
YTS:
Open banking: The blue-sky
opportunity for utility companies
https://bit.ly/3hTAZFW
