Utility Week

"Arguably, Ofgem is crea ng a barrier to successful long-term energy system transi on through its recent proposals to define 'whole- system' op misa on as being limited to the transmission and distribu on regulated networks." Robo om insists that customers' interests would be be er served if Ofgem addressed the issue of true whole-system op misa on. With concerns that the current regulatory model for energy will struggle to address the transforma on happening across the industry, Robo om believes RIIO2 must help unlock this. An important aspect will be ensuing that regulatory models adequately support investments in smart technologies that are strategically significant and help to drive change in business models and ways of working. For the water sector, the need for further investment is o en a barrier to innova on. Hurry raises concerns about the dearth of investment in water efficiency innova on: "Investment in new technologies has remained focused on energy when it comes to smart ci es. "Water companies tend to be conserva ve and won't invest in technologies that have yet to mature. However, technologies can't mature and demonstrate their effec veness without larger-scale field trials in the water company se ng." C A S E S T U D Y STOCKWELL PARK ESTATE Network Homes has been leading the transforma on of the Stockwell Park Estate near Brixton since 2005. It has invested more than £100 million so far on refurbishment, new-build and community enhancement, and a further £75 million is earmarked for comple on of the programme. The social housing proper es on the estate are connected to a heat network. As both the landlord and energy supplier, Network Homes had previously charged its residents a flat rate for the energy it supplied because it was unable to monitor energy consump on in individual proper es across the network. The purpose of the project, which was funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, was to improve the performance of the heat network for both tenants and Network Homes by trialling the use of the web-based Guru Pinpoint pla orm. Before the project started, Guru Systems installed its smart metering and monitoring technology at the point of genera on and in individual proper es. This gave Network Homes real- me data on how its network was func oning for the first me. The system allows the network operator to calculate exactly how much to charge for the energy it sells, as well as displaying up-to- the-minute data on usage to residents through a monitor. Data collected by the monitoring system uncovered network losses of 3,350kWh per dwelling per year (roughly equivalent to the total annual useful heat requirement), while Pinpoint also diagnosed issues with the network's heat interface units. The analy cs and diagnos cs delivered by Guru Pinpoint provided the informa on required to implement improvements to the Stockwell Park network. These changes resulted in: • a 53 per cent reduc on in network heat losses; • a 47 per cent reduc on in terminal run temperatures versus ambient for dwellings with interven ons; • a 60 per cent reduc on in terminal run losses for dwellings with interven ons, saving 1,700kWh a year across the site; Over the course of the project, residents' heat consump on fell by 20-30 per cent, saving £140 per household per year. I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH MARCH 2019 | 27

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