Electricity Substation Supply Areas Dataset

Product Overview

An Electricity Substation Supply Area (ESA) is a geographical representation of the electricity network. Each ESA represents the area served by a substation. All connections within each ESA will have the same upstream connection point. ESAs exist at all voltage levels from secondary, primary, bulk and grid supply points.

Electricity Substation Supply Areas (ESA) can be visualised with Demand Headroom and Generation Headroom fields to provide further insights into available capacity and potential for connection requests. Generation (or Demand) headroom is the extra generation (or demand) that can be accommodated by the substation without causing overload or compromising its stability.

Renewable developers, EV chargepoint operators, and Heat Network designers may use ESAs to assess the feasibility of projects before significant costs are incurred.

Electricity Substation Supply Area Data is just one dataset in our GIS tool belt that can be combined with our cloud based net zero planning platform LAEP+ (Local Area Energy Planner Plus), or as a stand alone dataset available as an API or exportable file format.

When used in the LAEP+ platform, data can be visualised at UK and regional level to identify areas with available headroom and support the shortlisting of suitable sites for new developments and renewable energy infrastructure.

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Electricity Substation Supply Areas Dataset

Field	Description	Unit
DNO	The DNO responsible for each substation	-
Substation name & ID	Substation name and identifier code assigned to the substation	-
Firm capacity	The available capacity on the network with a single feed on outage	MVA /kVA
Maximum load and minimum load	The maximum and minimum half hourly average loading of the transformer	MVA /kVA
Maximum generation	The maximum capacity of substation’s generation units (connected + contracted)	MVA /kVA
Maximum net flow	The maximum flow between generating and loading assets in a substation	MVA /kVA
Reverse power capability	The capability of the transformer for handling the back feed supply of additional power generated by generation units at the substation	MVA or %
Demand headroom	The available headroom to connect load to the substation considering the network constraints	MVA /kVA
Demand headroom %	The demand headroom available at the substation in percentage	%
Demand RAG	Colour-coded status reflecting supply area demand constraints – Red for full, Amber for partial, and Green for none	-
Generation headroom	The available headroom to connect generation asset to the substation considering the network constraints	MVA /kVA
Generation headroom %	The generation headroom available at the substation in percentage	The generation headroom available at the substation in percentage
Generation RAG	Colour-coded status reflecting supply area generation constraints – Red for full, Amber for partial, and Green for none	-

Frequently Asked Questions

LAEP+ aligns with Energy Systems Catapult's 7-stage methodology for Local Area Energy Plans, facilitating the creation of best practice LAEPs and project pipelines.

Stage 1: Preparation
‍This includes determining the geographical area, assessing the policy drivers, identifying resources, appointing a lead organisation for mobilisation and establishing the scope of the LAEP.
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Stage 2: Stakeholder engagement
‍The development of a LAEP involves a collaborative approach, engaging with external stakeholders to effectively integrate and reflect local perspectives within the plan.
Data Stories is a feature of LAEP+ which enables insights from data models to be communicated to stakeholders using online narratives and visualisations. It can be used to put data insights into context for stakeholders and capture valuable feedback. It can also be used to engage with harder-to-reach stakeholders across the local area. Additionally, LAEP+ includes a consultations feature which enables users to survey a wider group of stakeholders through an online poll.

Stage 3: Understanding the current local energy system
‍In order to successfully plan actions in a local area it is necessary to have a good understanding of the current system, its assets, infrastructure, ambitions, and currently committed plans for the future.
LAEP+ operates a dynamic nationwide building and energy network digital twin that provides the starting point for LAEP analysis. Users of LAEP+ can use the map feature to explore, filter and export hundreds of energy, transport, building datasets in order to understand the baseline of a given area.

Stage 4: Modelling Options for the future
‍By considering multiple scenarios, rather than a single scenario, options and choices for how to meet net zero can be considered. The purpose of this stage is to define for each scenario which combination of actions in a local area reaches the carbon target in the most effective way.
The LAEP+ Scenario Modeller feature enables users to create long-term scenarios, which automatically schedules the rollout of selected technologies based on local renewable potential and users’ own input parameters, such as net-zero targets, budget, and local priorities.
Stage 5: Scenario Refinement and Selection
‍Assess and understand the wider impacts of scenarios produced in Stage 4, specifically focusing on factors that are of interest to stakeholders (e.g., impact on fuel poverty).

Stage 6: Actions, Priorities and Decisions
‍Assess the pathway(s) chosen in Stage 5, and categorise their components based around how soon they can be delivered.
The LAEP+ Projects feature provides seamless feasibility assessments of building-level low-carbon deployments. Click and drop assets onto the map, and run an assessment to view carbon saving breakdowns and cost estimations.

Stage 7: Create the Local Area Energy Plan
‍The final stage brings all of the work carried out during the preceding stages into a single document that is the plan to be carried forward for the local area.

Electricity Substation Supply Areas Dataset

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Product Overview