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ELECTRICIT Y W hile we are used to the occasional power out- age, lasting perhaps a few hours and limited to a small area, the elec- tricity sector also has plans in place to deal with much more se- vere and widespread disruptions to power, and being able to restore supplies as quickly as possible. Peter Jones, technical man- ager at the ERP notes that, "while we are confident the current system is resilient to a wide range of extreme events today, looking forward we can see a number of significant long-term trends that may impact the sys - tem resilience in the decades to come." The work led by the ERP has identified a broad set of environmental, technological and societal trends that are changing the way we operate the electricity system and the demands placed upon it. Climate change is already leading to more variable and uncertain weather pat - terns that will increase the risk of flooding and storm damage. With 21st century tech- nology, new risks are already emerging with respect to cyber security. There has been an increasing trend of cyber security breaches with malicious intent from rogue individu - als, organisations or even states, with the recent example in the UK when the National Health Service was severely compromised by the WannaCry Ransomware attack in May 2017. "With society becoming more reliant upon technology, particularly in the new emerging smart cities, the impact of fu- ture disruption to supplies is likely to have a noticeable effect on daily lives – as most modern systems have communications and power embedded in their operation," - Alan Thomson, director, global leader energy Maintaining a resilient energy system "In the future how long can we live without electricity?" asks a group of key decision makers from across the energy sector. A recent report entitled 'Future Resilience of the UK Electricity System' and published by the Energy Research Partnership (ERP) highlights a range of future trends that will need to be acted upon to assure we have a resilient electricity system in the future. NETWORK / 28 / DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019 tant to recognise that there may be low re- gret decisions and investments that we can make in anticipation of these future trends, with an overall lower cost and greater sys- tem wide benefit than if we respond to them as they arise. A key enabler to making these decisions will be achieving cross industry agreement on what we mean by resilience and how we measure it. David Wright, director, National Grid Electricity Transmission, notes that, "the ERP Report highlights that we are miss - ing, here in the UK, a single cross sector measurement method for resilience against which we can be measured and report." In producing the report, the ERP has already started this process, and brought together a wide range of industry and government players to enter this debate. Chief executive, Phil Graham at the National Infrastructure Commission added that, "In the Budget, the Chancellor asked the National Infrastruc - ture Commission to undertake a study on infrastructure resilience. The ERP report is a useful contribution and we will continue to engage with the sector as our work pro - gresses." But looking forward, much more needs to be done. The industry needs to engage with society and business to clearly estab - lish their needs and expectations and how they can be met. This in turn should help shape and inform government and policy, with a new resilience taskforce working across the energy sector to help lead the changes. In particular, resilience needs to be baked into the regulatory regime, to ensure that together, all players can reduce the impact of any threat to network infrastructure, either proactively through design or by being ready to respond quickly "While we are confident the current system is resilient to a wide range of extreme events today, looking forward we can see a number of significant long-term trends that may impact the system resilience in the decades to come." PETER JONES, TECHNICAL MANAGER, ENERGY RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP systems, Arup. As we continue to decarbonise the economy, new technologies are being introduced utilising electricity as an alterna - tive fuel. Therefore, more systems will be increasingly reliant upon electricity, particu- larly transport, with electric vehicles being connected to the system, but also heat as we shi• towards electric heat pumps, or even hydrogen. "As more and more sectors seek to decarbonise, we are seeing an 'all-in bet' on power to meet our targets," concludes Peter Bance, CEO, Origami Energy. The work identified a number of recom - mendations that can be put in place over the next decade to assure resilience of the electricity system in the future. It is impor-