Sharing data is key to the efficiency of the energy system as we decarbonise to Net Zero.
It enables customers and stakeholders to assess market opportunities and participate in flexibility markets as well as promote network companies and key stakeholders to work together to facilitate efficient whole system planning and operation.
As a DNO we already publish network planning and development documents including Long Term Development Statements (LTDS) and Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES).
The LTDS and DFES provide information and forecasts of our existing network and the availability of capacity in the short and long term respectively.
The aim of the Network Development Plan is to bridge this gap providing a medium term outlook to our stakeholders. It provides details on available network capacity to accommodate future demand and generation growth, as well as our planned interventions which increase network capacity.
Our Network Development Plan structure
Our NDP is structured as summarised below and aims to provide stakeholders with transparency on our planned network developments and the resulting forecast network capacity headroom.
- Executive Summary:
- Network Development Report – this provides detailed information on our intervention plan
- Network Capacity Headroom Report – demand and generation headroom at each substation to 2050 with planned interventions
- Methodology Statement
Our NDP Documents
Our Network Development Plan documents

NDP Summary Document
A summary document to introduce our NDP, summarise the contents, and set out our consultation questions.
Part 1: Development report
Contains detailed information on the interventions we plan that will increase capacity.
This includes non-load interventions which are not done to provide capacity but will increase capacity nonetheless (e.g. asset management interventions such as replacing an end-of-life transformer with a larger equivalent).
Part 2: Network capacity
The indicative demand and generation capacity available at each primary substation (down to and including the HV busbar).
Forecasts are produced for every year for the first 10 years, and then for every five years after that out to 2050. These capacity forecasts must take account of known planned interventions which will increase capacity (Part 1).
Part 3: Methodology statement
A document explaining how we have produced Parts 1 and 2. As the methodology is the same, this is a combined document for both our SP Distribution and SP Manweb licence areas. This includes a summary of the feedback we received.

Methodology Statement: Part 3
As the methodology is the same, this is a combined document for both our SP Distribution and SP Manweb licence areas.
Our DNOA Pages
Accessing the data via our Open Data Portal allows the user to download the data in various file formats, as well as extract the data via an application programming interface (API). The portal gives descriptions of all the data and enables users to effortlessly find other, related datasets that may be of interest.
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Your feedback
As our stakeholders’ views and plans evolve, it is vital that we keep in step with these requirements to ensure that we continue to plan and develop our networks with the most up-to-date information.
The purpose of the Network Development Plan is to share our network planning and development information, and therefore these documents must meet our stakeholders’ needs.
This is why your views are so important to us.
You can send us your feedback at any time via email to systemdesignteam@spenergynetworks.co.uk or by completing our online survey. Any feedback received will be taken into consideration at the earliest opportunity.
Other useful documents
GIS shape files (to open these files you will need appropriate GIS software):