Our Forward Plan to 2021

In this article – where we are publishing our thinking in a number of areas, across both electricity and gas, out to 2030 – we focus on our Forward Plan to 2021.

With the official launch this week of the Electricity System Operator (ESO) as a separate business within the National Grid Group, we now start to focus on the future. Our aim is simple – we want to achieve world-class performance and transform our networks to deliver a low-carbon future for consumers and society.

That’s why, last year, we developed and launched an ambitious Forward Plan, agreed with Ofgem. It set out our vision of how the ESO will meet the changing needs of the energy industry, with clear performance targets year on year and criteria for how our performance will be monitored. This is because ESO is operating under an incentives framework agreed with Ofgem, where we either receive payments or face penalties depending on how well we perform each year; in the eyes of the regulator and our key stakeholders.

Last week, we published our revised forward plan up to April 2021. This will provide the framework for delivering our longer-term ambitions, as set out in our Towards 2030 plan. And today, we have made available a visual guide to our forward plan until April 2021, providing a more accessible way to share our vision with you.  

The Forward Plan unites us behind clear objectives and performance targets – we know each year what we have to deliver. But our ambition is not just to meet these targets … it’s to go beyond them. Our role as enabler for change is pivotal and the foundations we lay between now and 2021 will move us ever closer to our long-term vision for the future.

Change is already happening. Much of it goes unnoticed by customers, but they are at the heart of it. By continuing to go above and beyond, we will help create a different and better energy future for them.

You can also find out more about work already delivered as part of last year’s Forward Plan.