Stability Pathfinder service information

Summary

NESO publishes settlement-period data on the availability and utilisation of Stability Pathfinder contracts, the procured service that supplies synchronous inertia and short-circuit level to a grid losing thermal plant. The dataset records availability and dispatch for all contracted units except Grid Forming Batteries, which deliver stability continuously while connected and so receive no control-room instruction. Long-term stability contracts carry no utilisation payment, so the data is published roughly a week after delivery.

Why it matters

Stability Pathfinder is an administered procurement, not a market: NESO defines the requirement, runs a tender, and pays availability fees to fill a physical gap created by displacing synchronous generation. The data lets analysts see what that gap costs and which technologies are filling it, but the exclusion of grid-forming batteries from utilisation reporting understates how much of the stability requirement is now met by continuously-connected assets rather than dispatched ones.

Key facts

• •Data is at settlement-period resolution (half-hourly) for all contracted units, in local time
• •Long-term stability services carry no utilisation payment; dataset updated approximately one week after delivery
• •Grid Forming Batteries are excluded: NESO control room sends no stability instructions because the service is delivered continuously while the site is connected
• •Service procures inertia and short-circuit level to replace stability lost as synchronous thermal plant retires

Areas affected

Related programmes