From half-hourly data to smarter decisions: why UrbanChain is already beyond MHHS

The energy industry is busy talking about Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS), and for good reason.

Moving the market from estimated consumption to site-specific, half-hourly data is a long-overdue step toward a smarter, more transparent electricity system. Ofgem expects the shift to unlock £1.5 - £4.5 billion in consumer benefit by 2045. It’s a serious reform and suppliers across the UK are scrambling to understand what it means and how to get ready.

But the truth is that MHHS is the industry just starting to catch up with where the most advanced energy platforms already operate.

UrbanChain’s renewable energy operating system has been built on real-time, site-specific data from day one.

MHHS = better data. UrbanChain = full traceability.

MHHS is a welcome leap, but the industry is still talking about settlement cycles and consumption reconciliation.

UrbanChain operates at a different level:

• Live data, not waiting for settlement windows
• Optimisation in real time - matching customers directly with renewable generators on a 24/7 basis
• Transparent cost signals - built on real consumption, real generation and real market conditions

Why this matters for energy users

The move to half-hourly settlement will, eventually, give organisations a clearer view of how and when they use energy. But our customers already benefit from something far more valuable: full visibility, full traceability and full control.

With UrbanChain, businesses, councils, EV charging networks, data centres and critical infrastructure operators get:

• Better forecasting and procurement - using granular traceable data that goes beyond MHHS standards
• End-to-end transparency - every kWh matched, tracked, timestamped and verified

In short, customers don’t just get half-hourly readings. They get a smarter energy strategy.

And the impact is very real in practice.

A local council with 272 kW of rooftop solar and a 12 MW solar farm wanted to retain more value from its excess energy rather than selling back to the grid at low returns. Its goal was straightforward: use more of its own renewable generation across council infrastructure and within the community to cut costs and emissions.

UrbanChain made that possible.

Local energy, local value

By matching council-owned solar directly with nearby businesses, transmission losses were reduced and value was kept within the community. More than 50 businesses benefited as shared renewable energy across council sites provided access to lower-cost, cleaner power.

The results were measurable:

• 35% higher returns compared to selling excess energy to the grid
• 250 tonnes of CO2 saved annually through improved efficiency and local use
• 20% energy bill reductions across participating local businesses
• Significant financial and carbon savings for the council compared to grid supply

“It’s a great result that we’re powering our own estate using UrbanChain. Our partners are consuming 100% locally generated renewable energy.”

— Local council energy manager

This is what half-hourly data alone cannot deliver. Turning data into strategy requires platform intelligence, real-time matching and verified traceability, all capabilities UrbanChain has been providing for years.

MHHS is trendy. UrbanChain is proven.

MHHS is dominating industry discussions. It’s technical. It’s complex. And it’s being treated like the new frontier of energy insight.

But from a technology and customer-value standpoint, UrbanChain is already operating in the world MHHS is trying to reach:

• Granular data? We’ve been using it for years.
• Optimisation? It’s native to the platform.
• Traceability? Ours is full-chain, not partial.
• Carbon accuracy? We track real emissions from real generation, not averages.

MHHS makes the old system more modern. It doesn’t make it cutting-edge.

The bottom line

MHHS is good for the energy system. It’s overdue, and it will clean up years of inefficiency. But why stop there? UrbanChain is already proving the value of 24/7 data and it’s available to all our customers now.

Interested to find out more? Contact us via sales@urbanchain.co.uk or find out more here.