Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead has backed plans for National Grid to continue in its current role as system operator (SO), as long as the company can achieve more separation from the rest of its activities.

Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead

Speaking to Utility Week, Whitehead said: “An SO that was National Grid would be a very good thing providing it actually operates properly as a system operator and sorts out a number of its potential contradictions.”

Whitehead said it is important for the “longer term” for the UK to have a “much better clearly defined SO that actually stands back from a number of those other process.”

It was reported earlier this year that ministers are looking at the possibility of stripping National Grid of its SO role in favour of an entirely independent body.

Currently there are a number of potential conflicts between National Grid’s activities and its SO role, such as its role in the development of interconnectors, which some have said compromises its ability to act in the nation’s best interest.

However Whitehead said National Grid has acted in the best interest of the nation “when perhaps other people weren’t”.

“Actually I think National Grid has done a pretty good job and has done a lot of innovative work sometimes despite the best efforts of government to do the opposite in looking at how the systems going to work in the future and what its requirements are.

“For example the private work grid did on strategic balancing reserve and contingency reserve at a time when government was just messing things up in terms of bringing the capacity market.”

National Grid is currently working with Decc and Ofgem to create greater separation of the SO role from its other businesses.

Ofgem said the regulator can manage any potential conflicts of interest “at the minute” but its desire to give the SO a bigger role in evaluating onshore tenders means greater separation will be necessary going forwards.