Digital

Ten systems that observe, model, and control the physical grid.

If the physical layer is pipes and wires, the digital layer is everything that tells an operator what is happening inside them. CIM describes assets. LTDS publishes network models. BMRS streams real-time market data. DIP routes MHHS messages. DCC moves smart-meter readings. This route is the reference map.

17Route 17 · Foundations
11 min read 4 sections 1 diagram 1 decision tool Last verified

After this route you will be able to

  • Name the ten load-bearing digital systems and what each carries.
  • Distinguish operational telemetry (SCADA) from settlement data (BMRS) from asset data (LTDS).
  • Describe what the Data Integration Platform routes and why it replaces bilateral integration.
  • Identify which standards bind each system (IEC 61968/70, SHACL, BSC, SEC).
  • Make a reasoned call on a data-quality incident response.
Domestic smart meter showing real-time consumption on its display

21 March 2024MHHS Update 38 · programme slips 12 months

Hardware was ready. Policy was set. Sixty organisations could not agree on data.

Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement is the biggest digital-layer reform of the 2020s. Every GB meter moves to settlement at 30-minute granularity. The change requires coordinated release across suppliers, DNOs, DCC, Elexon, and the new Data Integration Platform. In Update 38, Elexon announced a 12-month delay.

The reason was not technology. Smart meters were in the ground. Settlement IT was built. The physical layer was ready. What slipped was data readiness: 60 organisations needed to agree on schemas, test interface behaviour under load, and redevelop consumer-side processing for half-hourly volumes. The hard part of digital-layer reform is not the code. It is the data.

The MHHS delay is a preview of every future digital-layer reform. Governance can set direction. Physical assets can be installed. But until the data flow through the seven industry codes and the dozen core systems is verified, integrated and tested, the reform is not real.

The digital layer is where GB energy reform lives or dies. What are the systems, what do they carry, and where do they interlock?

The answer is a small set of named systems. Each has a purpose. Each has a standard. Most interlock with at least one other.

Section 01 · The ten systems

Five data flows, three model stores, two settlement engines.

Each of the systems below is a necessary part of the 2026 digital landscape. Understanding which function each delivers is the quickest route to reading any GB reform announcement.

Diagram 01 · Core GB digital systems

CIM

Common Information Model

IEC 61968/61970 data model for power system assets, topology and limits. Underpins LTDS.

Standard: IEC

LTDS

Long Term Development Statement

Annual DNO network data in CIM. v2-1-0 uses EQ v7, SCR v3, SYSCAP v5, Header profiles. SHACL-validated.

Mandatory: Ofgem

BMRS

Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service

Half-hourly GB balancing, generation, demand, price data. Free and open.

Operator: Elexon

DIP

Data Integration Platform

Hub-and-spoke message routing for MHHS. Replaces bilateral integration across suppliers and DNOs.

Go-live: late 2026

DCC

Data Communications Company

Smart-meter comms network. Moves ~2.7 bn readings/day between meters and suppliers.

Regulated: Ofgem

SCADA

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

Real-time transmission and distribution telemetry. Sub-second sampling for operational control.

Operator: NESO, DNOs

BSC IT

Balancing and Settlement Code IT

Settlement engine for GB electricity. Reconciles metered energy against contracted at half-hourly granularity.

Administrator: Elexon

Carbon API

Carbon Intensity API

30-minute grid carbon intensity with regional breakdown. Public and free. 48-hour forecast horizon.

Operator: NESO

FES

Future Energy Scenarios

NESO's annual planning scenarios. Inputs to strategic decisions at DESNZ, Ofgem, investors.

Cadence: annual

Capacity reg.

Capacity Market Register

Register of contracted capacity, auction results, delivery milestones. Transparency feed.

Administrator: NESO

Not exhaustive but covers the core of any 2026 conversation about GB energy data. The seven industry codes (BSC, Grid Code, CUSC, DCUSA, STC, UNC, SEC) govern interactions between these systems.

Section 02 · The standards

IEC, SHACL, BSC. Three families of rules.

The digital layer is held together by standards. Understanding which standard governs which system is the minimum literacy for reform analysis.

IEC 61968 / 61970 (CIM family). The canonical power-system data model. CIM describes how an asset, a topology or a limit is represented so multiple parties can share the same picture. LTDS is a CIM profile that GB DNOs publish annually.

SHACL. A W3C standard for validating RDF data against shape constraints. LTDS uses SHACL to check that submitted data meets the profile's structural requirements. The LTDS validator tool is a SHACL engine with the Ofgem profiles loaded.

BSC. The Balancing and Settlement Code. Defines metering, settlement, imbalance prices. Any new tariff or new settlement arrangement touches the BSC. MHHS is a BSC-anchored reform.

ISO 27001 and UK GDPR. Information security and personal-data protection. Half-hourly consumption is personal data under UK GDPR; the Smart Energy Code adds sector-specific rules on top.

Data submitted under the Long Term Development Statement must conform to the published CIM profile for the relevant release version. Non-conforming submissions shall be rejected and returned for correction.

Ofgem LTDS data submission requirements (Distribution Licence Standard Condition 25)

Section 03 · Data quality incident

An inconsistent reading at the transmission boundary. What next?

A SCADA reading shows 420 MW at a 132 kV substation. The settlement engine records 405 MW. Which layer investigates first?

SCADA and settlement use different measurement chains. The discrepancy is not automatic evidence of a fault. Check the measurement sensors on both sides. Check the data schema and units. Check whether the sites are even the same in each system. This is the right first test for a new persistent discrepancy. Sensor calibration or wiring errors are common at boundary substations. Start over Often the cheapest fix: a units or convention mismatch looks like a physical discrepancy. Start over This is often the real cause. Asset identity mapping breaks between systems whenever either side changes. Start over

Check your understanding

Three questions on what you have just read.

BSC Grid Code SHACL against CIM profiles ISO 27001 Smart meters Bilateral supplier-to-DNO integration The DCC BMRS Aggregate data Personal data Special-category data Public data

Key takeaways

  • Ten core systems: CIM, LTDS, BMRS, DIP, DCC, SCADA, BSC IT, Carbon API, FES, Capacity Register.
  • CIM is the asset model. LTDS is a CIM profile. SHACL validates submissions.
  • BMRS is open and free. Carbon API is open and free. DCC is consent-based.
  • MHHS is the 2020s' largest digital-layer reform. The delay was data, not technology.
  • UK GDPR applies to half-hourly consumption data. SEC adds sector-specific rules.

References

  1. Elexon BMRS

    Real-time balancing and market data.

    Primary real-time data reference.

  2. NESO: Carbon Intensity API

    30-minute GB carbon intensity.

    Primary API reference.

  3. Elexon: MHHS programme

    MHHS governance, timeline, DIP specification.

    Primary reform reference.

  4. Ofgem: LTDS

    DNO annual network data publication.

    Regulatory source.

  5. ICO: UK GDPR

    Personal data treatment rules.

    Privacy regulator.

Continue with the operating model. How the institutions in the governance layer coordinate the physical and digital.