Half-hourly settlement is coming - Are you ready?

 

 

Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) will see all customers being settled on their half-hourly electricity consumption.  Currently, half-hourly settlement is mandated for large industrial and commercial organisations and is voluntary for others, with the majority of customers being settled on ‘one-size-fits-all’ profiles. MHHS raises and levels the playing field for retail competition by making energy retailers liable for their customers’ actual electricity consumption. Mandated by Great Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem, this radical change is being managed by the MHHS Programme.  It will help ‘flatten the curve’ to maximise our use of renewables and network capacity to meet the country’s net zero goals.

 

Incentivising a cultural change in energy usage 

Building on the smart meter rollout, MHHS provides the essential platform for a cultural change in energy usage; empowering consumers to benefit from changes in behaviour, essential to achieve our net zero targets.

The success of the National Grid Electricity System Operator’s Demand Flexibility Service trial demonstrates the willingness and ability of the British public to engage with the market to save money and carbon.  The energy crisis and the inevitable increase in consumption resulting from take-up of electric vehicles and heat pumps will only serve to increase the incentive for customers to change their behaviour.

 

 

2 women leaning against electric car whilst it is charging

 

Woman using smart meter on living room wall

 

Leveraging benefits from the influx of MHHS data 

MHHS will stimulate a host of innovative tariffs and services to allow customers to maximise the value of flexibility in consumption.  But the impact of MHHS extends way beyond electricity suppliers.

The move from settling customers based on one or two meter readings per year to half-hourly will result in an explosion in data volumes.  Half-hourly settlement data will give suppliers a better understanding of their customers and provide distributors with unprecedented visibility of their networks.  However, this tsunami of data will require new data collection, validation and estimation systems.

Maximising opportunities across the value chain

MHHS will offer new opportunities to key market participants:

  • Consumers will be incentivised to take control of their energy usage. 

  • Suppliers will compete for customers through innovative products and services designed to maximise the value of flexibility in consumption and export.

  • Metering Agents will handle orders of magnitude increases in data volumes, requiring new systems and highly automated processes. 

  • Distributors will have unprecedented visibility of their low voltage networks and the ability to maximise capacity through smart Distribution Use of System (DUoS) tariffs.

Act now!

Industry-wide testing is set to start in October 2023 with migration to half hourly settlement commencing in April 2025.  Given the scale of the impact, energy market participants should be formulating and implementing their MHHS strategies now.

We work with you to assess the impact of MHHS on your organisations and deliver practical outcomes to enable you to thrive in the new market, maximising the value of MHHS data. 

Have you identified the business processes and systems that will be impacted by MHHS? Should you build, buy or outsource new systems and services? 

Have you developed the products and services required to compete in the new MHHS retail market?

Our business readiness assessment service provides a structured review of your existing business processes and systems to formulate MHHS strategy and identify, prioritise and plan MHHS-related activities. 

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Whether participating in System Integration Testing (SIT) or waiting for qualification, can you demonstrate compliance with MHHS requirements?

Our testing capabilities offer participants role-specific test artefacts and support for MHHS SIT/Qualification.

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Can you continue to meet your security and privacy obligations under MHHS?

Our cyber security capabilities offer a comprehensive evaluation of your MHHS-related security and privacy obligations, along with the ability to test your security measures and provide managed services as required to help you stay secure in the future. 

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Do you have the capability to maximise the value of MHHS data?

Our data insight and analytics capabilities provide insight into how market participants can maximise the value of MHHS-related Settlement Data within business processes, products and services to add value to your organisation and its customers. 

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Do you have the means to collect the array of data required for MHHS Settlement?

Our SaaS-based data services platform enables participants to operate as Data Services (SDS/ADS) Qualified Parties.

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MHHS Business Readiness Assessment Service

Our business readiness assessment service provides a clear assessment of your state of readiness for MHHS. Harnessing our energy retail business capability hierarchy model, along with our deep knowledge of the forthcoming changes, we will help you to undertake a focused and systematic assessment of your current business readiness to prioritise key activities and next steps.

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Electric meter reading
hand holding phone checking smart meter data

MHHS Data Services Platform

Our MHHS Data Services Platform provides organisations aspiring to become an accredited MHHS Data Services agent with an out-of-the-box IT service that delivers all necessary functions required to perform the role. Leveraging CGI’s proven DCC Adapter to perform the Meter Data Retrieval (MDR) service, our platform offers reduced cost-to-serve and the ability to innovate in the emerging MHHS market.

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Making the right decisions for your organisation

We have been at the heart of Britain's energy market for over 30 years.  We leverage our deep understanding of market regulation, information management, digital technology and cyber security, as well as expertise in other markets to develop the most suitable and easily manageable solutions for our clients.

We have designed, built and currently operate:

  • the ELEXON Central Settlement Systems and, as part of the Helix project, are instrumental in making the changes necessary for MHHS. 
  • the data systems at the heart of the Smart Metering Implementation Programme for the Data Communication Company (DCC). As the Data Service Provider (DSP) to the DCC, we are responsible for changes to the DCC Central Systems to enable MHHS.
  • market leading Smart Metering Integration services (DCC Adapter and Business Service Layer) that enable a wide variety of market participants to integrate securely and reliably with the DCC.

Get in touch with our expert teams to find out more about how our MHHS solutions could benefit your organisation.

 

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