Utility Week

20 | 11TH - 17TH JANUARY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Analysis says. In Manchester, the project partners are holding stakeholder events to gain feedback on a near-term plan, he says. In Bridgend, the council has developed a smart energy plan, which will be presented to its cabinet for approval in January 2019, according to Jenkins. The plan includes pro- jects for the electrification of heat, hybrid heat and district heat projects. Optimism is high that the concept can be scaled up and used in other parts of the country. The ESC sees the approach as criti- cal for the decarbonisation of heat and for the integration of other technologies, such as electrified transport, and hydrogen. Local area energy planning could be funded through a body similar to the govern- ment's Heat Networks Delivery Unit, which The elements of local area energy planning Identify and engage stakeholders These could include local, regional and national government; energy network operators; local enterprise partnerships; local industry and academia; and residents and businesses. Stakeholder engagement should be a continuous process that starts early, con- tinues throughout preparation and implemen- tation and on through the monitoring. Set area vision, objectives and targets The organisation leading the local area plan should set a local carbon emissions target and develop supporting policy to achieve it by a defined year, with ambitious but achievable interim targets. As well as carbon emission reduction, other objectives can focus on local priorities, such as creating jobs, encouraging economic growth and investment, and reduc- ing fuel poverty. Understand the local area energy system The plan needs to be based on the local area's current and future energy demand; the capac- ity of an area's future energy system to meet the identified vision, objectives and targets; and the changing expectations of local com- munities and consumers. Various elements need to be identified and quantified, including current energy networks, their capacities and the buildings connected to them; current building types, numbers, locations and heat- ing systems; current industrial and building numbers, locations and uses; local constraints such as conservation areas and likely future energy demands and growth. Investigate future local energy scenarios Cost-effective and robust scenarios of future local energy system infrastructure should be created. These should achieve the vision, objectives and targets defined earlier, and should analyse energy system change from present day to an agreed end date. They will need to consider variation from any change to the national energy system, and any impact on the local system. It should test options across the whole energy system before identifying preferred options. Develop a local area energy strategy The strategy should be based on a techni- cal evidence base, and set out the proposed different combinations of energy system and network change. It should include a land-use plan to illustrate the proposed energy system and network changes. It should also identify short-term actions and priorities, with key milestones and critical points at which progress and decision making is needed pinpointed. These should be aligned with other stakeholders' plans and investment cycles. Lead and implement Implementation will need to be an iterative and collaborative process, with the plan evolving along with technological innovation. Monitor and review The plan should be formally reviewed and updated regularly. Factors that may impact a local area energy strategy include major political, policy and regulation change; market forces and consumer behaviours; technology developments; and evolving national and local emissions targets. Source: Energy Systems Catapult lot of data and you need to understand its relevance." The different partners had to work together to understand each other's data properly, he says. "As we worked together, local councils started to understand our data better. That was one of the main issues, because we're trying to plan a whole system, not just an electricity system." Greenleaf also reports challenges with the data, because quality, comprehensiveness and formats differed among partners. "Har- monising the data could benefit other areas doing the same analysis. Also, a lot of the information being gathered could be used in other areas by local authorities, so there needs to be a push on how the data is man- aged," he says. It was also quite time-consuming to look in detail at each individual area, so it would be good to find a way of simplifying the process so that the same insight could be generated in a more streamlined manner, Greenleaf says. Aligning people and plans Another challenge reported by participants was getting all the right people from the various organisations together in a room, at the right time to influence plans. Michael Jenkins, principal sustainable development officer for Bridgend County Borough Coun- cil, says the first thing it did was to gather a group together and start talking to the net- work operators. "We've never done that before – align- ing our plans with their plans. This was the first time we'd said that we were going to put 1,000 new homes in an area, and look- ing at whether the grid capacity could cope," he says. Previously, the planning department would have just assumed that the housing developer had discussed its plans with the network operator, he says. "Local authorities don't necessarily have relationships with net- work operators. It probably took us two years to get the plan at the end, it's not something that happens very quickly," he says. Jenkins is a convert to the new approach, and says it "absolutely" makes sense to work directly with the operators. "Before, we didn't have a point of contact, or any- one to speak to but now we can just pick up the phone and have a quick chat or send an email – I can't imagine going back to the old way now," he says. Each of the three areas involved in the pilots has developed plans for a range of projects, including electric heat networks, electric heating and targeted retrofit, Halsey provided a financial support mechanism for heat mapping to identify potential areas for heat networks, Halsey suggests. Povey believes the concept will have to be used nationally. The group working on the energy plan for Bury wants to extend the project to Greater Manchester. "Once you can do it to a size of a conurbation the size of Greater Manchester then I think you can start to apply it nationwide," he says. However, Greenleaf says there are gaps that need to be filled in terms of implementa- tion, particularly where significant decisions need to be made. "For solutions like large- scale re-purposing of the gas network for hydrogen and district heat, there isn't really a decision-making framework. That's a miss- ing piece of the jigsaw at the moment." continued from previous page

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