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NETWORK / 37 / JULY/AUGUST 2019 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Visitors to the Network Theatre heard about the future structure of networks, regulation, the role of data in the energy system and the decarbonisation of transport. Tom Grimwood rounds up some of the highlights. The operation of the electricity system must be urgently overhauled if the UK is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, without burdening consumers with unnecessary costs, an industry fi gure has warned. Simon Harrison, chair of the delivery board for the Future Power Systems Architecture (FPSA) project, was speaking in the Network Theatre at Utility Week Live in Birmingham. The programme has previously identifi ed 35 functions which the future electricity system will need to fulfi l. These include providing a mechanism for peer-to-peer trading between customers and reforming settlement arrangements to enable suppliers to offer time-of-use tariffs. Citing a recent report from the consultancy Ricardo, Harrison explained: "By the early 2020s – that's not quite next year but it's the year after or the year after that – we need a signifi cant number of the FPSA functions, including some we don't know how to address at the moment, to meet government targets. And by the early 2030s we pretty much need everything in place. "And that's 80 per cent by 2050," he added. "To go to net zero – I can't give the answer, but it's pretty much common sense to say – it's now got to go a whole lot faster than that. "So, things already looked quite diffi cult. Now it's become much more challenging. And most certainly, a lot has got to happen during RIIO2." He said if these functions are not implemented in a timely manner decarbonisation will become "much more diffi cult and much more expensive". RIIO2 Ofgem should be bolder and take more risks when it comes to setting the RIIO2 price controls, an industry fi gure has argued. John Scott, who served as Ofgem's technical director for more than fi ve years before setting up the consultancy Chiltern Power, made the comments during a discussion about fl exibility at Utility Week Live. Scott said the transformation of the energy system will require network operators to take more risks and that investors will need to be compensated accordingly. But this could leave Ofgem exposed to accusations that it has been overly generous to network companies. In light of these concerns, he said the energy industry should support Ofgem and the government by providing the evidence and assurances they need to "think a little more boldly and begin to take a little more risk at the margins". Speaking to Utility Week afterwards, Scott raised fears that Ofgem's latest proposals for the RIIO2 price controls are too focused on driving down returns at the expense of encouraging ambitious action by network companies. The role of data The chair of the government's Energy Data Taskforce outlined some of its initial fi ndings while speaking at the Utility Week Live event in Birmingham. Laura Sandys, who was recently appointed as a non-executive director of the Energy Systems Catapult, said the taskforce will recommend the launch of three new initiatives – a data catalogue, a single asset registration platform and a digital system plan. Sandys said the data catalogue would reveal what information is already accessible to the energy industry, its quality and where there are gaps. "In many ways, it's taking the lid off all those lovely silos that we've got sitting around the system," she explained. The single asset registration platform, meanwhile, would prevent data about new energy assets from being fed into those silos and bring together the 10 existing registration initiatives which the taskforce has identifi ed. Sandys said the measures would help restore sight to the energy industry which has found itself living in a "blind man's bluff world". She noted that around one tenth of all generation capacity in Great Britain is effectively invisible to the electricity system operator – only showing up as a reduction in demand. Since the event took place the taskforce has developed fi ve recommendations within their report: A Strategy for a Modern Digitalised Energy System. Electric vehicles A representative from the Offi ce for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV) has set out the types of infrastructure required to support the rollout of electric vehicles. Speaking in a session entitled 'EVs and the decarbonisation of transport' at Utility Week Live, electric vehicles policy advisor Olivia Bretherick highlighted the need for rapid charging points to be located at motorway service areas in particular locations across the strategic road network. She said that this would mean "customers can carry on their journeys" and help to address "range anxiety". Bretherick told a packed audience in the Network Theatre: "This would give customers the confi dence that they can take long journeys. People can have in their heads that they may not be able to make a journey so having rapid charging infrastructure is quite important." The Offi ce for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is a team working across government to support the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV). This year's Network Zone featured a dedicated Electricity Hub which showcased action on the specifi c transition challenges faced in the power sector. Participants included: National Grid Electricity Transmission, UK Power Networks, Northern Powergrid, SP Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN). Additional reporting by Alec Peachey.