Zonal Price Analysis

The unit commitment dispatch model, which helps to schedule and dispatch electricity, is being updated to see how different pricing zones might affect new low-carbon generation technologies in the future.

REMA 

The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) is a UK government initiative to understand how to enable transition and operation of future renewables-dominated electricity system. 

The Grid Energy Management model, GEM-PowerSystems, developed by UK R&D, optimises energy production planning to manage UK’s electricity needs. The model integrates the entire UK electricity system including the generation mix, demand requirements, flexibility, and transmission networks. It balances energy generation, response to changes in demand, and frequency regulation.

Zonal pricing

Zonal pricing, proposed in REMA, would split the wholesale electricity market into smaller regional areas, to deliver better value to consumers and make it easier to run a renewable energy system efficiently. To respond to EDFR UK needs, the GEM-PowerSystems model is being updated to study zonal pricing, as a deliverable within the SSYREN R&D project, part of the Renewables and Storage R&D program. The main achievements: 

• Changing the model from single zone to three-zones and representing the UK grid network: adjusting settings for power generation, transmission lines, interconnectors, and system demand.
• Gathering data for UK installed generation, transmission line capacities, interconnections, and system demand profiles for zones (from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero,  DESNZ, and the National Energy System Operator, NESO, data-portals) with simulations. 
• Expanding the model to include over 600 nodes, using generation and demand data from DNO and NESO data portals.

The team will analyse simulations for 2019 and 2023. They’ll study zonal pricing for 2030 and 2050, focusing on the impact of 2050 net zero generation mix and inertia levels, and the role and value of energy storage in a post 2030 net zero power system.

Current work will help EDFR understand how a zonal split under the REMA scenario affects business by creating price forecasts. These forecasts will help estimate the value of storage projects in different regions.

Find out more: rdoperations@edfenergy.com