Distribution future electricity scenarios

The future of energy in the North West has never been so important

New technologies and changing customer requirements are transforming the way that electricity is generated, distributed and consumed; and our networks are becoming smarter and more flexible.

As the North West’s electrical network operator, it’s our responsibility to plan for the future, support the region’s economic development and facilitate the transition to a net zero carbon future.

In this part of our website, you'll find the current and previous publications of our Distribution Future Electricity Scenarios (DFES) report, which details our view of the North West’s future electricity requirements.

It contains a range of possible views of the future, which indicate how different influences can change electrical demand and generation on our network.

For the first time, this year’s DFES report includes net zero carbon scenarios, which provide an understanding of the steps that must be taken for our region to transition to a net zero carbon future.

Inputs to our forecasts

We have been working with other network operators to standardise the way in which forecasts are created and presented. We are committed to this collaboration, and this year’s report incorporates the common GB electricity industry decarbonisation scenario framework which standardises high-level assumptions across the industry, allowing us to support whole system thinking and deliver a consistent approach for our stakeholders.

We also assess local trends using our ‘bottom-up’ methodologies, and incorporate information and opinions gathered from our cycle of engagement with local stakeholders.

Related documents

Our DFES report is accompanied by a series of complementary documents which show the impact of our customers’ predicted requirements on our network (available to download below).

• DFES workbook – allows customers to view the raw data associated with the DFES report to gain an understanding of what our forecasts mean for them on a local level
• Regional Insights – looks at the impact of these forecasts on our network to 2050 and our investment plans for the next five to ten years, providing detailed analysis at a local level
• Network Headroom Report – applies DFES forecasts to indicate the future ability of our existing network to accommodate predicted demands and generator connections under all DFES scenarios up to 2050
• Network Headroom Report workbook – tables of demand and generation headroom for our whole region for all DFES scenarios.

In line with other network operators we will publish our first Network Development Plan in 2022 which will incorporate our Network Headroom Report. You can find out more about industry plans for network headroom reporting in the Open Networks report.

If you have any comments or feedback on this year’s DFES report, please contact us.

DFES downloads