Non-Wires Alternatives

Welcome to our Non-Wires Alternatives (NWA) homepage.

Here you’ll find everything regarding NWAs at National Grid – project planning, solution submittal, as well as links to our System Data Portals and Ariba vendor platform.

We are committed to deliver system reliability and cost-saving benefits to the electric grid and our customers by guiding the development of potential NWA opportunities and the responsible sourcing of NWA solutions.

Register for upcoming RFP’s and competition releases.

We encourage developers to register on the Piclo platform to get notified of the upcoming RFPs / competition releases from National Grid, and participate in any future competitions. Register now via Piclo Flex.

Help us improve our NWA process.

We are looking for feedback on proposed updates to our NWA process. We are in the process of creating a Standard Agreement intended to expedite the procurement process. Feedback can be submitted using the form below or emailing us at non-wiresalternativesolutions@nationalgrid.com. All feedback provided by September 17, 2024 will be taken into consideration as we finalize the Standard Agreement.

These are summaries of several key updates that you may be interested in. This list does not include all proposed updates and we do encourage you to review the entire proposed Standard Agreement.

New Offerings

We have created two new standardized options, Flex Secure and Flex Sustain.

Flex Secure is geared toward DERs that can respond to real-time dispatches from us after receiving an advanced (e.g. day-ahead) notification. This dispatch signal is dependent on real-time system conditions and requires more advanced telemetry equipment between the DER and our grid management system. More information can be found in Appendix C – Flex Secure Service Form.
Flex Sustain is geared towards a single or an aggregation of DERs that can deliver a flat level dispatch when called upon in advance (e.g. day ahead) by us, based on the pre-agreed output or load reduction over a fixed time window and a minimum run time defined for the DER. More information can be found in Appendix D – Flex Sustain Form.

Bidding Timeline Optionality

Our new agreement will enable flexibility service providers (FSPs) and customers to determine which year or years they can provide grid services. For example, under a scenario where we are looking to procure MWs of flexibility over a four-year timeframe, an FSP could bid into providing flexibility for only year 2, years 3 and 4, or any combination of years that makes most sense for each individual FSP.

New Asset Construction

Appendix G – New Facility Agreement lays out the requirements for the construction of new assets looking to participate in flexibility markets.
Appendix K – Reporting Milestones and Appendix L – Project Milestones provide additional detail on how we solicit project development updates from FSPs building out new assets.