Ofgem has published its mid-scheme review of the Electricity System Operator (ESO) for the period from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024, assessing its performance midway through the second phase of its business plan (BP2).
The review evaluates the ESO’s overall delivery against its business plan objectives, the quality of its outputs, value for money, performance against pre-defined metrics and feedback from stakeholders.
The review found that the ESO met expectations in its Control Centre Operations and System Insight, Planning and Network Development roles.
However, its performance in Market Development and Transactions was assessed as slightly below expectations.
Ofgem acknowledged that while the ESO made progress in developing several projects that could benefit consumers, there were concerns about the quality of delivery, communication of progress and stakeholder engagement.
The energy regulator also highlighted that the ESO demonstrated effective leadership in developing cross-border market arrangements and advocating for consumer interests.
However, issues were identified in managing industry code modifications and delays in the delivery of a new Electricity Market Reform portal, which was expected to improve user experience.
The energy regulator said: “The expected costs of portal delivery were high, nearly double initial BP2 forecasts and the portal design has proven inflexible to subsequent changes in Capacity Market rules despite this being a key feature that would improve over the current portal.”
