Markets Forum events
We hold these events four times a year and consider these as key milestones to engage with a wide range of industry stakeholders. We aim to reflect on the priorities of the energy industry and how the ESO role, and in turn Markets, is positioned to deliver against these.
Our Market priorities are structured into how the Market is operating now, how we are developing the Market and how we are designing our Markets fit for the future.
Aim:
- We will use these engagements to communicate on our strategy, decisions and policy positions
- Explain the products and services we are developing now and designing for the future
- For transparency, hold space for discussions and provide updates on industry blockers and opportunities
- Signpost to how we are facilitating co-creation on how we develop, design and implement our market solutions
Timeline for the next Markets Forums
Following the Markets Forum we hosted in November 2023, we have taken on board your feedback and we are pleased to announce that we plan to hold the Markets Forum four times a year. Two of these events will be virtual pre-recorded webinars with a live Q&A webinar a week later. Sli.do will be open from the point of the webinar release date. The next two will be in person with the facility to livestream the main presentation. The dates of the events can be found below.
Please reach out to the Markets team if you have any questions or feedback.
If you would like to hear the latest news and receive invites for the next forums, please sign up to the Markets Forum Distribution List.
We are pleased to bring you the first Markets Forum event of 2024. Having listened to your feedback about accessibility to our forums and the time commitment required, we have agreed to annually hold two pre-recorded events, and two in person where the main presentation will be live streamed.
Our intent is to keep the messages at these forums focused on the things that matter to you. We aim to keep messages at a holistic level, communicated in a way that does not require expertise, and to also signpost how you can get more involved in specific topics.
To kick off the new format, we have published a recorded webinar and a set of videos on the Markets Roadmap chapters. This was also followed up with a live Q&A session. The links to the content can be found below.
Markets Forum webinar
In this video, we share updates on key topics that we know are important to you. The topics included are:
- Operational overview – We cover the challenges that the control room experienced over the winter period.
- Markets Roadmap – We cover the key highlights from the latest Markets Roadmap.
- Key themes of industry feedback
- Revenue stacking – We provide an overview of what revenue stacking is, the benefits and our plans going forward.
- Operational metering – We provide an update on the metering standards and the independent review of operational metering.
- Energy storage in the Balancing Mechanism (BM) – We provide an update on the progress of the plan and the additional measures we have put in place since October.
- Electricity Market Reform (EMR) portal – We provide an update on the improvements made following recent feedback.
- Update on current projects
- Reserve Reform – We cover an overview of our current and new Reserve products, and a summary how they are helping to balance the system.
- REMA – We provide an update as to how we are working with DESNZ and industry to overcome barriers for clear signals and efficient operation of the BM.
- Flexibility strategy – We explain why we need flexibility, what the future looks like and how you can get involved.
- Key code and reform updates – We cover what our codes team do, with a focus on GC0166 (Balancing Programme), GC00156 (Electricity System Restoration standard), Interconnector Framework and an update on Energy Code Reform.
Watch the Markets Forum webinar
If you have any feedback or questions from the event, please contact the team.
In March we also launched our annual Markets Roadmap, so we have a separate set of videos that cover a summary of the Roadmap and a brief overview of the chapters, which you can watch below.
| Video title | Description |
| Introduction and overview | An introduction and overview of the new Roadmap. |
| Balancing Mechanism | The Balancing Mechanism (BM) is the market we use to ensure that energy supply and demand are balanced and to manage system operability issues in real-time. |
| Response | Frequency response services react in real-time to automatically balance supply and demand and maintain frequency on the grid. |
| Reserve | Reserve is the capability to deliver upward or downward energy to manage pre-fault imbalances and post-fault losses of generation or demand. |
| Stability | Stability is the inherent ability of the system to quickly return to acceptable operation following a disturbance. |
| Thermal | Thermal constraints refer to an area of the network where the physical infrastructure is overheating due to too much electricity overloading the network. |
| Voltage | Voltage is the ‘push’ that causes electrons to move in an electrical conductor, measured in volts. |
| Restoration | Restoration refers to the process of restarting the grid following a National Power Outage. |
November 2023
Thanks to all those who joined us at the Markets Forum event on 8 November 2023.
The forum covered:
- How the current market is structured and is operating now
- How our markets are being developed
- Longer-term market reform
- In-person breakout collaborative sessions
- Industry panel
If you have any feedback or questions from the day, please contact the team.
You can download the material from each session using the links below.
Documents
| Document title | Description |
|---|---|
| Back to basics charging – breakfast session | This session covered ‘the building blocks of the charging regime.’ |
| Markets Forum – main session | This session focused on our key priorities across the following market time-horizons: how the current market is structured and is operating now, how our markets are being developed, and longer-term market reform. |
| Charging reform – breakout session | This session covered an overview of the work to date and current scope of the TNUoS taskforce, and provided a high-level explanation of the ten-year TNUoS projection. |
| Markets insights – breakout session | This session covered an overview of the data that we provide to the market, with some data insights from the past 2 years since the launch of dynamic services in 2021. |
| Markets Forum Q&A | This document includes the responses to the unanswered questions from the live Q&A. |
Videos
| Video title | Description |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Karen Thompson-Lilley (Customer & Stakeholder Strategy Manager) introduces the team and provides an overview of engagement. |
| Introduction and welcome from Head of Markets | Claire Dykta (Director of Markets) provides an overview of the Market. |
| How the current market is structured and is operating now | This session focused on how the current market is structured and is operating now. |
| How our markets are being developed | This session focused on how our markets are being developed. |
| How longer-term market clarity is provided to the industry | This session focused on longer-term market reform. |
| Panel session - Q&A | Merlin Hyman (Chief Executive of Regen) hosts a panel of industry experts. |
| Summary - General Q&A | ESO senior team answer questions from the audience. |
| Close | Claire Dykta provides closing remarks for the day. |
November 2022
Thanks to all those who joined us both in-person and on the livestream at the Autumn Markets Forum event on 28 September 2022.
The forum covered:
- Short-term priorities: Approach to Winter 2022
- Medium-term priorities: Updates on new projects such as Demand Flexibility and Upward Firm Regulating reserve
- Long-term priorities: Net Zero Market Reform
- In-person breakout collaborative sessions
If you have any feedback from our Autumn event, please use the feedback form or email us.
The unanswered Slido questions from the event are found here.
| Title | Video | Presentations |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome from Head of Markets and Short-term Priorities: Approach to Winter 2022 | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Medium-term Priorities: Updates on New Projects | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Long-term Priorities: Net Zero Market Reform | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Summary, Q&A and Close from Head of Markets | Watch the video | |
March 2022
Thanks to all those that joined us at the Markets Forum event called “Enabling Britain’s Clean Energy Future: Markets Forum and Roadmap" on 22 March 2022.
The forum covered:
- The Markets Roadmap
- Stability and reactive power markets
- Net Zero Market Reform
- Key notes from Fintan Slye
| Title | Video | Presentations and Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Markets Roadmap Overview and Response & Reserve breakout session | Download the slides | |
| Stability and Reactive Power Markets – breakout session | Download the slides | |
| Net Zero Market Reform Session | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Enabling Britain’s Clean Energy Future | Watch the video | Read the article |
| Concluding panel discussion | Watch the video | |
| Responses to Menti questions | Download the responses | |
November 2021
Thanks to all those that joined us at the Markets Forum event on 18th November 2021.The forum included the following topics:
- Markets Roadmap: What next?
- Net Zero Market Reform
- Energy Code Review
| Title | Video | Presentations |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome and Introduction | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Markets Roadmap: what next? | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Net Zero Market Reform | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Energy Code Review | Watch the video | Download the slides |
June 2021
We held a stakeholder event so that we could keep discussing our progress with you. This interactive Markets Forum covered the following topics:
- Net Zero Market Design
- Pathfinders: Opportunities for customers and discussing the challenges so far
- Strategic code change: Offshore transmission, storage, and the road to 2025
- Becoming a better buyer: an introduction to the Single Markets Platform
You can find feedback from the pathfinders update here, other Q&A sessions can be found at the end of the slide packs.
| Title | Video | Presentations |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome and markets updates | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Pathfinders update | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Single Markets Platform | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Net zero market reform | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Strategic Code Change | Watch the video | Download the slides |
March 2021
Below you can find the deep dive sessions, slides and podcasts from our March 2021 workshop.
| Title | Video | Presentations |
|---|---|---|
| The road to net zero electricity markets launch | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Market reform insights | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Code change roadmap to 2025 | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Capacity Market and Contracts for Difference | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Net Zero Market Design | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| DSO Markets | Watch the video | Download the slides |
| Podcast 1: NOA Pathfinders | Listen to the podcast | |
| Podcast 2: Reactive Power | Listen to the podcast | |
| Podcast 3: Reserve Reform | Listen to the podcast | |
| Podcast 4: Response Reform | Listen to the podcast | |
| Podcast 5: Auctions and closer to Real-Time Procurement | Listen to the podcast | |
Get involved
As the energy landscape evolves, so must we. Our ambition is to work with industry and we intend to regularly update the roadmap based on feedback from our stakeholders.
If you're interested in attending future Market Forums and receiving updates on our progress please subscribe to our Markets events mailing list.
If you’d like to work with us and help inform our future plans, please email us.