BritNed operates the critically important Interconnector (undersea cable) between the Netherlands and the UK. We designed and developed their next-generation, fully integrated capacity allocation and nomination platform, ensuring unmatched performance and convenience.
BritNed operates a HVDC 1000MW Interconnector between Great Britain and the Netherlands, which provides an essential connection between the electricity grids of the two countries. This massive, high-voltage cable allows over 70 participating organisations to flow excess power between the two markets. To fully utilise the capacity of the Interconnector and ensure safe operations, sophisticated orchestration is necessary for capacity allocation, transfer fulfilment, and financial settlements.
The participating organisations, such as energy generators and traders, take part in BritNed's auctions to reserve capacity for the transportation of energy. Closer to time when it needs to Flow they nominate the appropriate direction that they want to Flow their capacity (United Kingdom to Netherlands or vice versa).
BritNed in the past has been using multiple platforms to run auctions, manage nominations, and control energy flow. After a thorough analysis the company decided that all these workflows should be taken over by one modern, integrated platform to create one seamless interface. The new platform unlocks productivity gains and ease of use for BritNed's operators and clients alike, minimises curtailment losses in the event of a failure of the cable, and removes technical bottlenecks that hinder BritNed in developing innovative products to offer its customers.
Supercharge acted as BritNed’s end-to-end product design and development partner to bring this uniquely powerful platform to life in close cooperation with BritNed’s experts all the way from discovery through design to software development.
The Interconnector industry operates as a critical component in the wider electricity & transmission infrastructure. Traditionally, software used in daily work ensures safe operations. However, usability was not a priority: the interfaces and workflows are often tedious and fragmented, resulting in decreased productivity. Additionally, widely used platforms in the field lack modern software architectural foundations, making them inflexible and hard to integrate with, hindering innovation. BritNed's ambitious team was convinced that this has to change: the future of operating platforms should be both easy to use and extremely performant, while maintaining security and robustness.
To make it happen, BritNed decided to transition to a single platform tailored to their sophisticated operations, enabling their goal of delivering an unprecedented level of performance and productivity in the Interconnector industry.
To achieve this, BritNed sought a new partner who could bring innovative ideas and facilitate a different angle of approach. As their product innovation partner, we joined BritNed on their mission to design and develop this uniquely powerful platform in close cooperation with their experts. We brought to the table our previous expertise in creating energy software that combines cutting-edge and robust technology with a human-centered design, resulting in tools that maximise efficiency in the field of critical infrastructure. We spent one and a half years together with BritNed’s team, designing and implementing a solution that is geared towards efficiency and reliability down to its every detail.
“Working with Supercharge was an exceptional experience. We swiftly established common goals building a platform which stands out from what’s currently in the market, fostering a collaborative environment focused on innovation and quality. Supercharge's rapid knowledge acquisition, clear vision, and user-centric approach ensured the seamless delivery of the Empire platform not only on time but also at a great quality level, which in the end led to a very smooth and uneventful go live despite the huge complexity of such a transition. We are convinced that the Empire platform will step up our business to a new level and help us to deliver a wider range of products and enhance customer support.” - Nils Teipel, Commercial Operations & Planning Manager at BritNed
Although one and a half years may seem like a long time, it is actually a very tight schedule considering the project's ambitions within the context of a critical infrastructure platform. We had to launch during a strictly defined planned maintenance date, which presented a rare opportunity to transition to the new platform.
Our experts worked with clockwork precision to ensure the software was launched exactly as planned. The designers began by thoroughly understanding the needs of all future users, including the Market Participants and BritNeds' own ICOs (Interconnector operators). User journeys were meticulously crafted to ensure seamless workflows that connect all platform functionality and align with daily work processes. The platform design aimed to automate and streamline workflows, allowing humans to focus on decision-making rather than button-pushing.
The software architects collaborated closely with the designers to create the technical foundations necessary to realise the user journeys and enable the complex calculations at the core of allocation and nomination logics. Part of the work involved designing and documenting modern APIs. While most of BritNed's customers utilise the user-friendly new interfaces, most large companies directly connect their internal systems to the platform. Due to the platform's sophistication and the requirement for rock-solid stability right from the start, the software development process required the perfect coordination of numerous software and quality assurance engineers.
Thanks to meticulous planning and precise delivery processes, the platform launched exactly as planned at the end of September 2023, hitting the designated planned maintenance window in a fully functional form. The onboarding of platform participants began prior to the planned maintenance window in early September (giving all participants adequate time to configure and setup their profiles and preferences) with the first capacity auctions conducted in the week of the launch. The enthusiasm of the largest traders to integrate with the APIs right away, abandoning outdated integration methods, demonstrated that BritNed was correct in its belief that the industry was eager to embrace innovation wholeheartedly and be able to extract rich and powerful data in order to perfect their own trading activities.
The recently launched platform offers a single-window solution for BritNed's clients, including energy generators and traders, as well as the company's Interconnector operators, allowing them to purchase both long and short-term capacity and manage all their nominations from one place. The platform is seamlessly integrated with BritNed's Control Point System and various Third Parties in the European Energy Industry, enabling fully automated operations with easy to execute Fallbacks. Each component of the platform has been carefully designed to meet the specific needs of Market Participants and the resulting solution significantly benefits both BritNed and its customers.
Maximised productivity:
Empire has been designed by CX experts after carefully understanding the needs and ideal workflows of the various users. By replacing fractured and cumbersome multi-platform workflows with efficient integrated journeys, the platform significantly reduces the workload of traders and operators. This frees up capacity and allows human experts to focus on critical decisions on a single easy-to use platform.
Better decisions through 360-degree data:
By consolidating all information of all Timescales into one integrated platform, it becomes possible to create dashboards that provide a comprehensive overview of relevant auctions, allocated capacities, and nominations to all participants, encompassing all timescales within a Delivery Day. This enables faster and more accurate decision-making, observing and setting the Netted Position for each Market Participant in a more comprehensive way, and ultimately leading to improved business outcomes.
Easy integration through modern APIs:
The new platform offers well-documented, modern REST APIs that enable seamless integration for companies participating in auctions through their own internal systems. Supercharge also created a bespoke API Navigator and Integration guide for BritNed’s Market Participants easing the development efforts to integrate with the new Platform. These modern interfaces reduce IT operational costs for customers and establish reliable, real-time data connections, enabling the customers to extract more data than previously. This departure from outdated and isolated legacy SOAP API based solutions, which previously hindered or even prevented modern integration practices, has received highly positive feedback from BritNed's partners who are now beginning to utilise the new APIs.
Minimising curtailment losses:
As a result of managing all aspects of allocation and nominations across Three Timescales in case of unplanned outage/asset failure of BritNed’s undersea cable, BritNed’s operators are now able to react and fully take control of all operational aspects of such unforeseen consequences in a matter of minutes. This quick action (that is only available in the European Interconnector industry for BritNed) can result in BritNed’s final position being closer to its operational flow, which in turn causes a smaller imbalance and issues in the wider European Energy Market. It also helps to significantly decrease potential financial losses through curtailment compensation, imbalance penalties and Backup Power Purchase agreements.
Opening up the way for innovation:
BritNed’s commercial team is passionate about developing new products to better serve the shifting needs of their clients who operate in a rapidly changing energy market. In the past, rigid IT solutions were often the roadblocks in the way of changing the established allocation product offering. With a modern, scalable platform BritNed’s team can bring groundbreaking new products to the market faster and easier. As an example BritNed is soon launching the world’s first Buy Now Auction, offering both Day Ahead and Intraday capacity after the allocation period has closed, providing more flexibility for its customers on a day to day basis. Further to that in case of a planned maintenance window or unplanned outage; If BritNed is able to return to service sooner, they have the option to utilise and sell its spare capacity and offer it to its customers - whilst currently other Interconnectors are not able to do such.
Supercharge is the perfect digital innovation partner for companies in the energy sector that aim to disrupt the status quo and develop software that elevates their operations. We combine exceptional software engineering and data expertise with a unique focus on end-users and process optimisation. When you partner with us, we focus on one thing: creating impact that brings your energy business to the next level.
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