Nodal Shift Bid Copilot · For independent generators

A trading desk's edge, built for independent generators.

Large utilities have trading desks that forecast constraints and price every bid. Nodal Shift Bid Copilot will give independent wind, solar and battery owners the same edge, with AI that forecasts curtailment and recommends the best response.

Join the Bid Copilot waitlist See what it will do

What is a Balancing Mechanism bid?

In the Balancing Mechanism, a bid is the price a generator submits for reducing its output when NESO asks it to. For wind farms behind a congested boundary, accepted bids decide what they earn, or give up, each time they are curtailed, so pricing bids well has a direct effect on revenue.

Read our guide to Balancing Mechanism bids and offers →

Curtailment is a revenue problem

If your site sits behind a congested boundary, you may be asked to reduce output many times a year. How you price your bids, and whether you have better options than switching off, can make a real difference to your annual revenue.

  • £1.47bn

    paid in 2025 to switch wind farms off and run gas plants instead 1

  • £1.9bn

    spent managing transmission constraints in 2024/25 2

  • 4.5 GW

    approximate secure transfer limit across the B6 boundary between Scotland and England 3

What Bid Copilot will do

  • Constraint forecasting

    Probabilistic forecasts of when, and how hard, your boundary will be constrained, from a day ahead to within the hour, built from weather, network and market data.

  • Bid and offer optimisation

    Recommended bid and offer prices for each settlement period, based on forecast constraints, market prices, your contracts and your subsidy position.

  • Better routes for constrained power

    Options beyond switching off, such as selling to flexible Turn-Up sites, local flexibility markets or co-located batteries, so less of your output goes to waste.

  • Revenue analytics

    See what each curtailment event cost or earned, how your bids compared with the market and where the next pound of revenue could come from.

How Bid Copilot works

Bid Copilot is in development. Here's how it's designed to work.

  1. Connect

    Share your site's metering, availability and contract details. We combine them with public Balancing Mechanism and network data.

  2. Forecast

    Bid Copilot forecasts constraint risk and market prices for every settlement period ahead.

  3. Recommend

    It proposes bid and offer prices and explains the reasoning, including the forecast and the revenue at stake.

  4. Review

    After each day, see what happened, what you earned and how the recommendations performed.

Public data comes from Elexon's Insights Solution4 and the NESO Data Portal.5

Advice or autopilot: you choose

  • Advisor mode

    Bid Copilot recommends prices and explains why. Your team, or your route-to-market provider, decides and submits.

  • Autopilot mode

    Bid Copilot submits within the limits you set, such as price floors, volumes and times. Every action is logged, and you can switch it off instantly.

Autopilot will need the right market access, for example through your existing route-to-market provider or a Virtual Lead Party. We'll work out the right set-up with you.

Built for independent generators

  • Independent onshore wind farms of roughly 5 to 50 MW, especially in Scotland
  • Solar farms and co-located battery sites that face grid constraints
  • Asset managers and owners' engineers who run several sites
  • Community and local-authority energy schemes

Bid Copilot is designed to work however your site reaches the Balancing Mechanism: through your offtaker or supplier, through a Virtual Lead Party, or under your own agreement with NESO.6

Early access: see what you could have earned

Early-access partners will get a historical backtest. We'll replay a recent period of your site's curtailment against Bid Copilot's recommendations, using public Balancing Mechanism data, so you can see the difference it could have made before you commit.

Join the Bid Copilot waitlist

How will pricing work?

We plan to charge a performance fee: a share of the extra revenue Bid Copilot creates, measured against an agreed baseline. If it doesn't improve your results, you won't pay the performance fee. We'll agree the baseline and terms with each early-access partner before anything goes live.

Have flexible demand instead?

Nodal Shift Turn-Up will help flexible sites get paid to use power when Scottish wind would otherwise be curtailed. Explore Turn-Up →

Bid Copilot questions

What is Nodal Shift Bid Copilot?

Nodal Shift Bid Copilot is AI software, in development, for independent wind, solar and battery owners. It will forecast curtailment, recommend Balancing Mechanism bid and offer prices, find better routes for constrained output and show what each decision earned.

Which sites is Bid Copilot for?

It's designed for independent generators, typically between 5 and 50 MW, that don't have an in-house trading desk. It will be most useful for sites behind congested parts of the network, such as the Scottish boundaries, that are curtailed regularly.

Will Bid Copilot submit bids for me?

Only if you want it to. In advisor mode it recommends prices and your team or route-to-market provider submits them. In autopilot mode it submits within limits you set, and you can switch it off at any time.

Do I need to change my route-to-market provider?

No. We're designing Bid Copilot to work alongside your existing power purchase agreement and route-to-market arrangements. If someone else submits bids for your site, Bid Copilot can give them recommendations or help you review their performance.

What data does Bid Copilot use?

It combines public data, such as Balancing Mechanism records from Elexon, NESO network and market data, and weather forecasts, with your site's own data, such as metering, availability and contract terms. We'll only use your site data with your permission.

How is the performance fee calculated?

We plan to measure the extra revenue Bid Copilot creates against a baseline we agree with you before you start, such as your site's past performance or the bids you would otherwise have submitted. The fee would be a share of that uplift. We'll confirm the details with each early-access partner.

Does Bid Copilot work for solar and batteries?

That's the plan. Solar and battery sites face many of the same constraints, and co-located batteries can absorb power that would otherwise be curtailed. Tell us about your assets when you join the waitlist.

When will Bid Copilot be available?

We're opening early access to a small number of generators first. We haven't set a public launch date. Join the waitlist and we'll contact you as places open.

Join the Bid Copilot waitlist

Tell us about your portfolio and we'll contact you when early-access places open. It takes about a minute, and there's no commitment.

What happens next

  1. Confirm your email address using the link we send you.
  2. We may get in touch to learn more about your site or portfolio. There's no obligation.
  3. When early-access places open, we'll contact you first.

All fields are required unless marked optional.

We'll send you a link to confirm your place.

About your generation assets (optional)

We'll only use your details to contact you about early access (and updates, if you tick the box). You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our privacy notice.

Sources

  1. Octopus Energy, Britain hits £1.5bn wasted wind bill three months earlier than in 2025, 5 October 2026. Checked 24 October 2026.
  2. Modo Energy, Curtailment and constraint costs in Great Britain and Scotland, 4 March 2026. Checked 24 October 2026.
  3. UK Energy Research Centre, Transmission network unavailability: the quiet driving force behind rising curtailment costs in Great Britain, 16 June 2025. Checked 24 October 2026.
  4. Elexon, Insights Solution (Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service), Live data. Checked 24 October 2026.
  5. National Energy System Operator, NESO Data Portal, Live data. Checked 24 October 2026.
  6. National Energy System Operator, How to access the Balancing Mechanism as an embedded generator, Web page. Checked 24 October 2026.