What a GSP is, and why it matters commercially
A Grid Supply Point (GSP) is a connection point between the transmission system and a distribution network, through which power can flow in either direction. Commercially, a GSP is an important spatial reference for flexibility procurement, connection queues and headroom, although DNOs may procure at GSP, BSP or more granular constraint-zone level. Two sites a kilometre apart can sit in different GSPs with different headroom, requirement profiles and queue pressure, so siting decisions that ignore GSP boundaries can miss an important spatial factor in procurement. GridOptic maps matched DNO GSP names to canonical identifiers and preserves unmatched names with an explicit coverage state, supporting like-for-like comparison where the evidence permits.
Explore →What flexibility procurement is, and how DNOs run it
A DNO may procure flexibility when it expects a network constraint and reinforcement cannot be delivered in time or cannot be justified. Providers bid into a tender for a defined service window, location and technology bucket; depending on the product, contracted providers may receive an availability fee for being ready during the window, a utilisation fee when dispatched, or both. The published procurement records — agreed fees, contracted MW, service windows, bid outcomes — are the price evidence behind GO-LFI. The dispatch records — when a provider was actually called, at what volume and what price — are the utilisation evidence. Both are public; the method that turns them into a comparable benchmark is on the methodology page.
Explore →How connection queues affect siting
A GSP connection queue is the pipeline of generation, storage and demand assets holding a connection agreement or a place in the offer process at that GSP. A long queue at a GSP signals both demand for capacity (which can justify flexibility procurement) and competition for it (which can erode the headroom a new asset relies on). The NESO TEC register is the GB-wide view of the transmission and large-embedded queue; each DNO also publishes its own embedded capacity register. GridOptic ingests both, maps them to canonical GSPs, and shows the forward queue by GSP so a siting decision can weigh the queue pressure alongside the headroom and the requirement profile.
Explore →What headroom does and does not tell you
Published substation headroom is an estimate of spare capacity for a stated direction, operating scenario and network level. Generation headroom and demand headroom are distinct, and the applicable limiting factor varies by dataset and DNO. Headroom is prominent on network maps, but it is easy to misread. Headroom is a snapshot of the network state represented by the source data, not a forecast of what will be available after queue projects connect; it does not tell you whether the DNO has a stated flexibility requirement at that GSP; it does not price the constraint. A site with high headroom and no stated requirement may present a weaker current DNO-flex signal; a site with low headroom and a published requirement may merit further investigation — neither condition alone establishes an opportunity. Read headroom alongside the requirement stars and the queue, not in isolation.
Explore →How a local benchmark becomes an asset case
A GO-LFI cell gives you a market read — the going rate for a given DNO, technology and delivery year, with a confidence tier and a price rating, plus a requirement rating for forward years. An asset case needs more: a specific asset operating profile, a horizon, and bands that capture contracted-evidence, requirement-weighted and downside outcomes. The Revenue Forecaster takes a GO-LFI cell and projects gross DNO-flex revenue under those bands, carrying the cell confidence tier through to the output so an underwriting note can state how much weight the input deserves. Use the benchmark to understand the market; use the forecaster to build evidence-graded revenue bands for one asset.
Explore →Where the evidence lives
The Market Evidence surface is the underlying library — contracts, dispatches, requirements and service windows from the six GB DNOs, normalised and source-linked. It is what GO-LFI and the forecaster are built on, and it is the right place to go when a benchmark cell prompts a question about the rows behind it. Use it to verify a number, to compare a specific tender against a benchmark, or to read the service windows that drive the annualisation.
Explore →Talk to GridOptic
If a coverage, methodology or commercial question is not answered here, ask directly. The fastest way to evaluate GridOptic against a real decision is to bring a postcode, a GSP, a set of coordinates or a portfolio and let the evidence speak for itself.
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