Utility Week

Operations & Assets 20 | 26TH APRIL - 2ND MAY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Roundtable Data: Enabling the Energy Transformation, Birmingham 2019 Discovering data Key figures from across the industry came together in Birmingham to debate how data could enable the transformation of the energy sector. Greg Pitcher reports. D ata is such a buzzword in current business parlance that it is worth taking a moment to consider its true meaning. According to the Cambridge Eng- lish dictionary, data is information collected to be considered to help decision making. At a roundtable event – organised by Network magazine and Utility Week in asso- ciation with the Energy Systems Catapult – leading players from the energy sector came together for a thorough examination of the best way data could be used to transform power networks. An anticipated increase in data genera- tion is widely expected from networks. "What does this data let you do?" asked one attendee. "Can we rethink the way we sell energy? Most of the research is looking at the way industries move to service-based models. Delivering value is giving a con- sumer what they want, not trying to make them understand what they've got." There was agreement that considering the consumer was critical in using data to build a better energy network. "We have to sell consumers a vision that we can sell them a greener world and at reduced cost," said one. "We need buy-in to use the data." One way in which consumers are turned off from energy providers is through devices that don't talk to each other, according to behaviour," said another. "The longer we wait, the more entrenched silos will become. We have a lot of data on consumers. Can we not build on that and understand the information we can give people to change behaviours?" Data security reared its head not long into the discussion. Knowing laughter greeted the admission that now was a terrible time to be trying to get consumers to sign over data, given some of the negative headlines over hacking and sharing of personal informa- tion recently. "We are trying to do something when there is bad press about data extrac- tion. You can't overestimate that problem." Another warned about public misconcep- tion. "When smart meters came in, people thought the government would spy on them and burglars would target them – it's easier to sit outside a house than use smart meters for these purposes." A plea was made for research and com- munication to overcome myths damaging the drive to collect more energy data from consumers. "Let's see if we can solve prob- lems by unpicking trust issues." One expert suggested the industry would never have the glamour of some online ser- vice providers that requested data from individuals. But another said: "There is tremendous support for decarbonisation. We've just had the coldest February followed by the warm- est. Giving access to your data is something people would buy into." Another said: "One app on someone's phone could be for energy. The telecoms net- work is no more interesting than the energy network, it's the services at the end of it that lure people." Another attendee said the industry should be working out how it can attract data to make decisions that don't require public input. "People don't have the capacity to keep taking on more information. We are monkeys fumbling our way through the world." Others said communication was critical to negotiating the data minefield and avoiding negative publicity in newspapers. Driving change When it came to talk of business models, there was a suggestion that the energy mar- ket makes it difficult for new entrants to shake up the status quo. "We are still reliant on incumbents to drive innovation." But elsewhere there was a suggestion that the environment was becoming more conducive to positive change. some voices. Cloud systems are not being designed to be interoperable, bemoaned one. "We are ploughing on with our own sys- tems doing things in different ways. Indus- try needs to get a better grip on how we use a common cloud-based platform for data collection." Interoperability is key The smart meter standard SMETS2 came in for a hard time, referred to by one attendee as "disastrous". But another warned that leaving the market to its own devices could "cause some issues later down the line. Inter- operability is the right thing to do". There was recognition that interoper- ability can mean different things depending on the context and viewpoint. "We need to understand what we're talking about. There is a lot of innovation coming. How do we talk about wires and pipes? How do we define the network?" Energy Systems Catapult's living labs were suggested as a place to help innovators in the sector test new products. One attendee said the UK had better open access to data than in the US and Australia. The issue of silos also came up. "Investors will only fund silos," warned one. "The problem with silos is stopping us from attaining the full benefit of consumer

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