Utility Week

6 www.utilityweek.co.uk/fLeX U P F R O N T techno file In the second interview in our series, Sara Bell, founder of Tempus Energy, talks us through the important tech in her life – and bigs up Pippi Longstocking By Adam John Sara Bell founded technology company Tempus Energy in 2012. She hit the headlines in November 2018 when the European Court of Justice ruled the UK's £1 billion capacity market illegal and the government was forced to suspend it. Bell started the challenge in 2014 in a campaign to force the government to design an energy system that reduces bills by incentivising customers to use electricity in the most cost-effective way. Tempus uses artificial intelligence (AI) and smart algorithms to control and optimise when flexible assets use energy. Bell has previously had a financial markets systems risk career and has worked in energy system innovation. She is a member of the high level group of i24C, the Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness initiative, is an innovation ambassador for Innovate UK, and is a member for energy on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. S a r a B e l l Where do you see yourself in ten years' time? I hope that I will have contributed my creativity, determination and sheer hard work to galvanising people to act in ways that solve climate change. at I have helped the enlightened self-interest and creativity of all of us to come together for our mutual gain and we have changed direction because we still have time. Technology can never replace… e human touch. What is Tempus Energy currently focusing on? We remain focused on ensuring that electricity customers get the financial incentives they need to become flexible with their electricity consumption so that we decarbonise in the cheapest possible manner. e Tempus technology uses smart controls working with our machine learning (AI) to predict market prices and automatically adjusts non-time-critical energy usage to achieve the lowest cost. Flexible electricity customers make the electricity system cheaper for all of us and the more flexible customers we have, the more secure our energy system is. What technology, piece of kit or process advancement has excited you most in your working life and why? e opportunity to combine tech innovation like the internet, mobile communications, sensor and control equipment with machine learning. is enables us to automate customers' electricity consumption seamlessly so we manage a renewable grid securely and cost-effectively and is by far the most exciting development of my working life. Flexible electricity customers are incredibly powerful because they control the cost of the energy system and control which generation is used, moving away from dirty, polluting fossil fuels. What bit of technology couldn't you be without at work? My iPhone. And at home? e Xbox. Who do you most admire in the technology sphere? Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse in Oakland, California. Who inspires you? Pippi Longstocking – brave, strong, honourable, independent and compassionate with an extraordinary sense of fun – a blueprint for all of us. What motivates you? Outrageous optimism. It is one of the greatest weapons we have to fight the challenges we face. It drives determination and courage and enables a joyful fight. How did you feel when the European Court of Justice's judgment on the capacity market came through? I always thought we would win because the scheme is clearly unlawful, but I was unprepared for the elation of actually winning – it was an extraordinary feeling. We have one planet that all humanity relies on and our only option is to do everything we can to protect it. We cannot let a small minority who benefit short-term from perpetuating climate change to destroy our future.

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