We have previously written about the legal challenge raised to try and stop the loss of TRIAD income to embedded generators. Well, the first results have just come out …

The first ‘shot’ was to stop the change coming into effect from 01 April 2018, whilst the case in its entirety is decided. The reason for this was to give those bidding for Capacity Market (CM) contracts within the next few weeks’ time to possibly ‘lock-in’ some extra income. It is important because this affects the price that smaller generators might bid into the upcoming CM auction.

The fact that the answer is ‘no’ will likely mean that the bids into the CM auction will now be higher. Embedded generators might ‘win back’ a bit of their TRIAD loss, although renewable generators won’t because they are not allowed to enter the CM. The change to TRIADs was done under the banner of controlling costs for end users of electricity. However, if the CM auction clears at a higher price, this extra cost will be paid for by end users.

Will the end result mean little change to end users and just a shift of money from one type/scale of generator to another? The whole charging system is so complicated we will probably never know!