Flexibility of real-time energy distribution: the changing practices of energy control rooms

Abstract

This paper examines the linked concepts of flexibility and control, focusing on how these are enacted in the operation of control rooms in Distribution Network Organisations. We discuss the limits to flexibility, and the kinds of flexibility that are at stake in distribution network control of gas and electricity. We do not present a general history of flexibility in UK energy system control rooms, but we show how the legacy of past ideas and practices of energy distribution control feed into current control operations, and how they shape flexibilities in control systems. The article examines the kinds of flexibility demanded of control room engineers in the face of imperfect systems and unpredictable faults.