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be run using an intelligent, neutral district network as its backbone. A variety of local renewables, demand response, heating, V2G and other flexibility projects are to be plugged into it and operated via novel market and supply platforms developed by Piclo, Origami, Nuvve and EDF that will de- liver aggregation, local trading and revenue generation from flexibility markets. While that project aims to radically im- prove the efficiency of the local network, the Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO) project led by Pivot Power takes a completely different approach in unlocking new capacity by con- necting loads and grid-scale storage directly to the national high voltage network. This approach will enable ultra-fast charging of electric fleets including taxis, trucks and buses; provide heating to 300 nearby homes and businesses via a shared ground loop system; and trade flexibility into the national grid via the largest hybrid Lithium Ion / Vanadium Flow battery installed to date (50MW / 55MWh). A machine-learning optimisation and trading system will control the market interactions, continually work - ing to make best use of the assets. Tackling a different aspect of the local energy challenge is the ReFLEX project in Orkney, where local conditions, tight grid connection to the mainland, and a very engaged population has resulted in a renewables capacity 1.3 times over demand. This situation, while unusual today, is likely to become much more commonplace as the costs of renewables continue to decrease, and so their approach of maximising the use of that renewables capacity by balanc - ing the system in more flexible ways can be expected to be of value across locations in the UK in future, but also in other island communities around the world. The virtual energy system will digitally link local NETWORK / 37 / MAY 2019 electricity, mobility and heat networks into one controllable overarching system. It will control an array of different technical components including fuel cells, EVs charg - ing through V2G systems, heat pumps, and hydrogen production and use in the longer term. Lastly, Smart Hubs West Sussex, led by Advanced Infrastructure will use an intelligent virtual power plant concept to aggregate and trade energy across a wide variety of energy provision through novel heating systems like low temperature and hybrid heat networks, domestic storage, electric and hydrogen vehicle charging. It will incorporate innovative mesh network technologies that will better protect the grid in more volatile conditions, and will develop a public procurement framework for integrated energy systems that can be replicated elsewhere. There are a number of very exciting things about these demonstrators. They are all heavily backed by private finance. The public grant of £51m across the four projects is stimulating activity worth at least £150m in total. This shows the appetite to demon - strate and understand local energy systems is strong in the industrial and finance com- munities. Significantly, they are all attempting to hurdle the high bar that was set for them: integrating across heat, power and mobil - ity; combining multiple technologies into an intelligent system; developing business model understanding as well as technical integration; and incorporating the latest in AI, machine learning and digital control platforms to help optimise value across the system. We can't know yet the extent that these projects will be able to deliver cheaper, cleaner energy services in ways that users need, but we can be confident that a highly compelling set of demonstrators are under - way from which we will learn huge amounts in the coming years. While these demonstrators will prove the best current thinking, we are also very keen to generate a pipeline of projects that inte - grate the next generation of thinking and ideas. That's why we're running a competi- tion for detailed designs of highly ambitious integrated local energy systems between May and July. Focusing on design and development of business model-led local plans to a point where they have everything in place to build and are investor-ready, we welcome applications from local areas with the vision and ability to develop and deliver ground-breaking change to their local energy systems over the next decade. Visit www.ukri.org/energy-revolution for more information about this government funding Wind turbines in Orkney (Credit Colin Keldie, courtesy of Solo Energy). An iillustration of a virtual power plant. (Credit Solo Energy) LOCALISED ENERGY FUTURE OF FLEXIBILITY