NGED / Market Gateway Overview
Flexibility Service Providers can now use Piclo Max to participate in National Grid Electricity Distribution's (NGED) competitions via an integration with the Market Gateway platform without having to maintain account and asset data across both platforms.
To participate in NGED competitions, the information below provides you with an overview of the steps involved.
Registration
If you are not yet registered with Piclo, please create an account, go to Piclo Max and select the ‘register’ button in the top navigation bar and complete the forms.
As part of this process, you can create a user login (email, password etc.) and a Flexibility Service Provider (FSP) organisation account by providing registered company information. If there are multiple companies, please use the parent company information provided on the form.
You will need to accept the user terms for yourself, and the service terms on behalf of the company.
What if I already have a Market Gateway account?
If you already have an account and asset data within Market Gateway, please contact Piclo Support at support@piclo.energy so that we can assist you further.
IMPORTANT: The company email address that you provide at registration will be the email address that receives important emails such as dispatch instructions so please make sure that any inbound emails are forwarded to the correct team by setting rules via your email host.
Company Qualification
Once you've registered on Piclo, the next step is to complete the company qualification. The application is called "National Grid Electricity Distribution" or you can navigate to it via the competition on the map or the manage menu.
- Navigate to Manage > Applications > National Grid Electricity Distribution
- Click apply (top right) and complete the company qualification application. If you wish to finish completing the application at a later stage, please select 'save' and 'continue' at the bottom of each section. This will save any information provided so that you can come back to it at a later stage.
- The application includes a specific data consent question. This is required for Piclo to synch your data between the Piclo Max and Market Gateway on your behalf. To learn more please visit the SO profile page for National Grid Electricity Distribution.
- After submission of the company qualification application, your answers will be transferred to Market Gateway where NGED will be assessing your application. You will receive emails from both systems about the outcome of your application.
- If the company qualification is rejected, there will be an opportunity to review and re-submit the application via Piclo Max.
Asset Qualification
NGED will only qualify operational assets. You can upload or change asset information at any time prior to bidding.
To upload new operational assets and or edit existing operational assets;
- Navigate to Manage > Assets and 'download the latest template' to add new assets or 'download existing assets' to change or remove existing assets in the platform.
- Fill in all the required data points (one row per asset) and/or edit any assets that require editing, and save the file as xlsx. NGED competitions have additional asset data requirements that need to be provided: Asset Scale, Metering Point and Import Meter ID.
- If your company qualification is approved and assets are within the correct location, at the correct voltage and have the compatible capacity, the assets will be qualified to bid.
- Please do not upload any planned assets intended to participate into NGED's competitions use the 'Planned Assets' tab in the asset upload template, as these will not be eligible for qualification.
IMPORTANT: NGED competitions have additional asset data requirements that need to be provided:
- Asset Scale
- Metering Point
- Postcode
- Import Meter ID (at least) (13 characters maximum)
Competition Product Types
What are the different NGED product types?
| Product | Trading timescale | Voltage band | Availability | Min. runtime required | Dispatch certainty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic | Short (week-ahead) | HV | Yes | 30mins | Variable dependent on network need |
| Secure | Short (week-ahead) | HV | Yes | 30mins | Fixed as per contractual obligation |
| Operational Utilisation & Scheduled Availability (SAOU_DA) | Long | HV | Yes | 30mins | Variable dependent on network need |
| Operational Utilisation (OU_15) | Long | HV | No | 30mins | Variable dependent on network need |
| Scheduled Utilisation (Settlement periods) (SU_SEP): | Long | HV | No | 30mins | Fixed as per contractual obligation |
| Scheduled Utilisation (Specific periods) (SU_SPP) | Long | LV | No | 4hrs | Fixed as per contractual obligation |
Please be aware, even if availability payments are available you will not need to enter an availability price when you bid. Availability pricing is calculated automatically by applying a fixed ratio to your utilisation price. Full details can be found in the “Bidding” section.
Baseline Guidance
What type of baselines are available?
There are four types of baseline available when participating in NGED competitions:
- Zero
- Asset capacity
- Self-nominated based on historic demand
- Based on planning profiles
| Asset Scale | Response Type | Metering Location | Baseline methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial & Commercial | Generation | Any | Zero |
| Industrial & Commercial | Stored Energy | Any | Asset Capacity |
| Industrial & Commercial | Demand | Any | Self-Nominated |
| Domestic | Demand | Any | Baseline calculated by NGED based on Planning Profiles. Calculated Baselines=Capacity |
| Domestic | Stored Energy | Any | Baseline calculated by NGED based on Planning Profiles. Calculated Baselines=Capacity |
| Domestic | Generation | Asset Level | Zero |
| Domestic | Generation | Point of Connection | Baseline calculated by NGED based on Planning Profiles. Calculated Baselines=Capacity |
Please contact us if your baseline method is “Self-Nominate” so that we can inform NGED of your nominated value.
Bidding
For NGED competitions the following bidding rules must be followed. Please be aware, these rules will not be validated within Piclo, so please ensure they have been adhered to before finalising your bids.
| Product | Asset specific bidding | Capacity | Utilisation price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | One value across whole competition | One value across whole competition |
| Secure | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | One value across whole competition | One value across whole competition |
| Operational Utilisation & Scheduled Availability (SAOU_DA) | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | Different value allowed each service month | One value across whole competition |
| Operational Utilisation (OU_15) | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | Different value allowed each service month | One value across whole competition |
| Scheduled Utilisation (Settlement periods) (SU_SEP) | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | Different value allowed each service month | One value across whole competition |
| Scheduled Utilisation (Specific periods) (SU_SPP | Not allowed, must bid with all assets in area | One value across whole competition | One value across whole competition |
IMPORTANT: Piclo will not send your bids to NGED for consideration if the bidding rules above are not adhered to.
Dispatch
When will I receive dispatch instructions?
A start dispatch instruction email is sent up to 15 minutes before the required start time to allow for asset ramp up.
A corresponding stop dispatch instruction email is sent at the required stop time.
Start and stop dispatch instruction emails include the NGED constraint area name where the service is required. Full details on the capacity required can be found within your contractual obligations file.
Please note that NGED dispatching will be exclusively handled by emails, even if you are currently integrated with our dispatch APIs.
Settlement
When do I need to send metering data?
All metering data for a specific delivery month must be uploaded by the 14th calendar day of the following month. This includes half hourly metering data for:
- All half hour periods in which you were dispatched (you may also upload a full day/months worth of metering if it is simpler to do so).
- All unique MPANs dispatched.
When will invoices be shared?
Invoices will be shared by the 17th of each month for services delivered in the previous month. Please contact customer success if you have any questions or would like to raise a dispute.
For more detailed information on participating in NGED's competitions, please refer to the NGED FAQ.