Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 7TH - 13TH SEPTEMBER 2018 | 19 Operations & Assets A smarter energy future "It's a future we all need to embrace – our experience of markets tells us new technologies generate competition, drive innovation and save people money." Opinion Randolph Brazier I magine a world where we have greater control over how we generate, store and use energy at home and at work. We will decide when and how we want to use energy, and know what those decisions mean for the environment and our bills. Well, we won't need to use our imaginations for much longer – a smarter energy system is fast becoming a reality in the UK. The Open Networks Project is at the heart of this once-in-a-generation change. It is laying the foundations for a smart grid that will help us to efficiently deliver on the UK's emissions targets while continuing to meet our daily energy needs. Through the recently launched Open Networks Future Worlds consultation, the energy networks are seeking a wide range of views on five possible sce- narios for the future described as 'Future Worlds'. These scenarios go beyond the proposals made by the UK government's recent Cost of Energy Review. They range from a decentralised system to a more centralised system, and even a scenario with new independent national or regional organisations, labelled flexibility co-ordinators. Whatever the outcome, we can expect to see a fun- damental and structural change to our energy system – one that's needed for us to have a smart, reliable and cleaner energy future. A smart grid will change electricity networks in the UK in the same way the Internet revolution- ised communications. Instead of a centralised model with power travel- ling in one direction to the customer, a smart grid allows for ordinary homes and businesses to use and generate power as they wish. The new system will be multidirectional, dynamic and controllable to ensure power is always where it needs to be. More broadly, a flex- ible energy system gives us great choice over how we use new technologies and energy sources in our everyday lives. In the future, renewable energy produc- tion, batteries, electric vehicles, peer-to-peer energy trading, smart homes, green gas and hydrogen, will all compete with traditional energy. It's a future we all need to embrace – our experience of markets tells us new technologies generate competition, drive innovation and save people money. A smarter, more flexible and more decentralised UK energy system could deliver up to £40 billion of benefits by 2050, according to research by Imperial College and The Carbon Trust. But the benefits extend well into the broader economy. A smarter energy system could result in £13 billion of gross value added, generate £5 billion of potential exports to 2050 and create up to 9,000 jobs over the 2020s and 2030s. With the rapid pace of change, a smarter system will also enable network operators to better balance increases or reductions in generation and consump- tion; respond to the use of energy efficiency measures in homes and businesses; and work with storage facilities or heat networks. In simple terms, this means maximis- ing the efficiency of the networks, reducing losses, opti- mising the costs of network upgrades, reducing power cuts or outages and minimising disruptions. Of course, the networks are already helping us to see into the future – they have been pioneering the integra- tion of electric vehicles, battery technology and local energy projects onto the grid. In Great Britain alone, more than 1,300 innovation projects have been deliv- ered. More than 28GW of distributed energy resources have also already been connected to the grid. As we continue to build momentum and make solid progress towards a smart grid, it is critical that every one has a say over how the future UK energy system operates – not only the ten network operators, Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, who have partnered to lead the Open Networks Project. There will be new roles and respon- sibilities for everyone – network operators, energy sup- pliers, transmission owners, consumer groups, regional consortiums, flexible service providers and local energy systems. The findings of the Open Networks Future Worlds consultation, which closes on 25 September, will be ana- lysed and form a critical input to detailed Future Worlds impact assessments in the months ahead. For more information and to submit your response to the consul- tation, visit ENA's website, www.energynetworks.org. Randolph Brazier, head of innovation and development, Energy Networks Association

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