Two years of process — and the standard in force is still FRCR 2024
The Frequency Risk & Control Report is the annual report that defines what frequency risks the GB grid is secured against. Follow it from the last approved edition, through a rejection and a suspension, to where it lands today. Every step below is a published decision — read them in order and the shape speaks for itself.
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2020
The FRCR is created
After the 9 August 2019 power cut — over a million customers lost — the FRCR is written into the SQSS as an annual report. It sets how NESO assesses and manages frequency risk, and defines the events the network must be secured against.
SQSS Appendix H -
2021 – 2024
Four editions approved
Each report builds on the last. Ofgem approves the first four editions in turn. The fourth, FRCR 2024, becomes the standard the grid is held to — the numbers on the Regulator page trace back to it.
FRCR 2024 — approved & operative -
August 2025
FRCR 2025 goes to consultation
NESO develops FRCR 2025; the SQSS Panel votes a recommendation and Ofgem consults industry before deciding whether to approve.
Ofgem — FRCR-2025 Consultation, Aug 2025 -
12 December 2025
Ofgem does not approve FRCR 2025
The Authority declines to approve the report, citing concerns with the level of detail in the assumptions underpinning NESO's recommendations. NESO is directed to develop it further and re-submit by 31 March 2026.
Not approvedOfgem/GEMA — FRCR 2025 Authority Decision, 12 Dec 2025 -
March 2026
NESO returns a supplementary report
NESO issues a supplementary report to address the points Ofgem raised, ahead of the re-submission deadline.
NESO — FRCR-2025 Supplementary Report, Mar 2026 -
5 March 2026
FRCR 2026 is suspended
A robust report takes about six months to produce, so an FRCR 2026 could not be ready by its 1 April 2026 due date — the earliest would be December 2026, only three months before FRCR 2027. NESO asks to suspend it; Ofgem agrees, and directs that the next report be published by 1 April 2027.
Requirement suspendedOfgem — SQSS FRCR 2026 Authority Decision, 5 Mar 2026 -
31 March 2026
FRCR 2025 re-submission falls due
The revised FRCR 2025 is due back to Ofgem — one day before the FRCR 2026 that has just been suspended would itself have been required.
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1 April 2027
Next FRCR due
The next edition NESO is directed to publish. Until an FRCR is approved, nothing downstream changes.
Scheduled -
Where we are
Still governed by FRCR 2024
SQSS Appendix H requires NESO to mitigate frequency risk as per the most recently approved FRCR. FRCR 2025 was not approved; FRCR 2026 was suspended. So the report in force is the one from the start of this story — FRCR 2024.
FRCR 2024 — the operative standard
Sources: the Ofgem/GEMA and NESO decision and consultation documents cited above (the FRCR-Official set). SQSS = the NETS Security & Quality of Supply Standard. Dates and outcomes are as published; always verify against the primary documents for operational use.