Utility Week

10 www.utilityweek.co.uk/fLeX P R O S U M E R S Some technological innovation is required, says Brazier, not least of which would be to control systems, and in some cases the grid equipment itself, which was designed with an assumption that energy flowed in one direction only, and will now need to accept energy flows in various directions, and between different parties. Ryan Gill, chief executive of start-up Social Energy, whose technology enables householders to participate in firm frequency response (FFR) markets, whereby electricity generators are paid by National Grid to help it balance the frequency of the grid, says the constant fall in the costs of renewable energy will lead to more and more generators being connected to the grid. Combined with the growth of electric vehicles, this will result in an even greater need for flexibility. " rough Social Energy, households can generate additional revenue while solving the problem of flexibility. We absolutely believe that this will become a mainstream offering, not just in the UK, but globally," he says. ink tank the Green Alliance also believes the transformation will occur much faster than many people realise. In a report published in 2017, it pointed out that small-scale distributed generators are capable of rapid technology change, unlike the fossil generators they are replacing. With the costs of solar PV falling by 90 per cent between 2009 and 2015, and those of batteries by 65 per cent, the T he concept of "prosumers" – where consumers move from being passive users of electricity to actively managing their consumption, production and storage of energy – is fast becoming reality, with technology start- ups pushing regulators and policy makers to catch up. e driving force behind this is technology. Roof-top solar, home batteries, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources are forcing the UK's power system through a fundamental transition. Meanwhile, technology entrepreneurs are developing systems using algorithms, artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, blockchain and social media to both enable the sale of the energy generated, and even develop peer-to-peer trading. In Cornwall, for example, Centrica is just over two years into a £19 million flagship community energy project comprising development of a virtual marketplace and the installation of new technology into more than 150 homes and businesses. Randolph Brazier, head of innovation and development at the Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents energy networks, is optimistic that prosumerism will be mainstream within "a few years". " e tech companies and start-ups are moving quickly and they're going to put pressure on our members and the regulator in general to catch up, so I think it's closer than a lot of people might think," he says. Until now, householders' main route to trading energy they produced themselves was via the export tariff share of the feed- in tariff. e government has announced that this will be closing from April 2019. It is now consulting on replacing this with a "smart export guarantee", where households and businesses generating their own energy can sell what they do not consume to energy supply companies. // The tech companies and start-ups are moving quickly and they're going to put pressure on our members and the regulator in general to catch up, so I think it's closer than a lot of people might think // Randolph Brazier, head of innovation and development, Energy Networks Association Some energy consumers are already becoming "prosumers", where they not only generate their own energy, but trade it as well. Will this become mainstream, and if so, when? asks Catherine Early T h e p o w e r g e n e r a t i o n

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