Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Accepted
Set out plan for ensuring grid capacity during low renewable generation and improve supply reporting.
Recommendation
The Department has more to do to convince Parliament that it has a robust plan for ensuring security of energy supply to meet increasing demand. The security of energy supply is the highest priority for the Department. Energy demand is set to rise from increasing numbers of electric vehicles and heat pumps, data processing centres, as well as the move to building homes. The stability of the energy grid might be affected by the Department’s plans to move towards cleaner power by 2030, because intermittent renewable energy from wind and solar vary according to the weather conditions. Intermittent energy sources will therefore need to be complemented by flexible and baseload power. Nuclear is an important low–carbon form of baseload generation but there are questions around the life and capacity of the existing plants and the time needed to get small modular nuclear reactors up and running. In January 2025, the National Energy Systems Operator issued a routine notification to energy providers to increase supply, after energy generation briefly fell below a margin set to make sure demand in the days ahead was met. It acknowledged, however, that there had been some speculation about the seriousness of the situation. The Department indicated that supply levels had been lower in the past and the system responded effectively to the potential supply issues. But such interventions are not cost free–this response cost £21 million. DESNZ needs to make sure its public reporting of such incidents meets the highest standards of transparency. recommendation a. The Department should set out in its Treasury Minute response how it will make sure there is capacity in the grid when there is low generation from renewable energy during periods of calm weather, including from wider technologies like nuclear. b. The Department should, in time for next winter, work with the National Energy Systems Operator to explore ways of improving reporting on energy supply issues and how they are handle
Government Response Summary
The government and National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) have updated response and communications procedures, including building educational content and reframing communications, and the National Emergency Plan will be updated by DESNZ later in 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. supply and customer demand on a second-by-second basis. During periods of electricity supply issues, such as tight electricity margins, NESO are responsible for all operational actions and communicating these actions with the public. While NESO is operationally independent from government, it is important DESNZ and NESO work together to ensure consistent and clear messaging during periods of supply issues. Following the Electricity Margin Notice (EMN) in January 2025, DESNZ and NESO have worked to update response and communications procedures, applying learnings to: • Build in more educational content and consider different audiences - providing clear explanations of any supply issue to prevent the spread of misinformation. • Reframe communication lines to highlight upfront that there continues to be enough electricity to meet demand in the presence of live market notices. Plans and process for how supply issues are managed and reported between NESO and DESNZ are set out in the National Emergency Plan 2023: Downstream gas and electricity, which is published on GOV.UK. Following winter 2024-25 and learnings from incidents including the January Electricity Margin Notice (EMN), Storm Darragh and Eowyn and the fire at North Hyde Substation which saw the closure of Heathrow airport, the NEP will be updated by DESNZ later this year (2025) to ensure it remains an accurate summary of the department’s response procedures.