Utility Week

12 | 4TH - 10TH OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK energy industry as well as for Ofgem, around understanding that data on commonly used assets, such as the energy system, is presumed open to all, with the burden of evidence on the data custodian/processor." He says the digital architecture solutions proposed by the taskforce will only succeed if they are properly coordinated with other digital services, using a process of iterative delivery that avoids monolithic "old-style IT service delivery practices". e EDT has set a primary goal to get its first two recommendations [to direct the sector to adopt the principle of digitalisation of the energy system, and to adopt the principle that energy system data should be presumed open] peppered through regulation and legislation over the next few years. e data catalogue is a near-term target, with progress on its development already made by Ofgem, BEIS and Innovate UK. " e energy sector might be behind the data curve, but if everyone supports our strategy we could find ourselves ahead of the curve into the future," says EDT's Sandys. "Soon all areas of infrastructure are going to become interrelated, which is why it is so important to get conflation around approaches and standards, etc. ese are exciting times indeed for infrastructure." Stephen Cousins is a freelance journalist transparency, which can give the regulator and third parties better oversight of costs and energy efficiency. In a drive to exploit these benefits, the EDT recommends that all energy system data should be presumed open, and that data owners who want to restrict access must first justify the reasons why to the regulator. e NIC's Hayes comments: "Our report Data for the Public Good made points about the need to share data within industries and across industries and how the value that can be unlocked is greater than the value that can accrue to one company alone. e typical commercial approach is that all information is commercially sensitive, but when you go through data in more detail you often find that lots can be shared." e taskforce recommends that companies adopt an "openness triage" process that considers a range of risk factors and develops appropriate mitigation mechanisms to maximise the potential for sharing. e opportunities around open data have already been demonstrated by Elexon, whose balancing mechanism reporting service (BMRS) provides free data for anyone to use under an open online licence. e BMRS has over 1,000 daily users on average and provides key information on the wholesale electricity market, including near real-time updates on which sources are being used to generate electricity, demand levels and imbalance prices. It also publishes data required by the EU REMIT regulations, such as outages at power stations. Elexon provided input to the taskforce on the sort of companies and parties that access BMRS data and what they use it for. Mark Bygraves, chief executive at Elexon, says: " is data is extremely valuable to existing companies and new entrants, because understanding supply and demand patterns helps companies to develop the right products and services for consumers." Open data will be crucial to support the sector's transformation to decentralised energy, he adds: "Many consumers will provide demand-side response whereby they reduce, or increase their electricity consumption at certain times in exchange for payments from energy companies. We are likely to see greater use of electricity storage and electric vehicles that act as 'virtual storage' by being available to top up supply when they are not in use ... is means that as an industry we need to ensure easy access to clear data on when these services are needed by network companies and suppliers, network companies also need clear data on the capability of electricity storage, so they know how much power it can provide, when, and for how long." Z e r o i n g i n As technology continues its seemingly inexorable march, progress is under way to implement the recommendations made by the EDT, since the publication of the strategy in June this year. Ofgem has said it intends to include the recommendations in several regulatory position papers and has progressed them as part of the next business plan update for RIIO2. e regulator has started making its metadata (data that describes data sets) more available and has updated its metadata practices to ensure they are interoperable with the data catalogue proposed by the taskforce. It is also exploring options to use Innovate UK's energy revolution funding to stimulate investment related to digital infrastructure recommendations made by the EDT. But the road ahead could be bumpy given the need to overhaul ingrained procedures and attitudes. Andrew Burgess comments: " ere is a cultural change, for the LESSONS FROM ESTONIA Estonia is leading the rest of Europe in its use of smart meter data with a platform that allows consumers to control who can access their energy data. e Estfeed data exchange platform was developed by Elering, the country's independent gas and electricity transmission system operator, to connect smart meter data from various hubs and sources to energy service providers, including suppliers and app developers, via a legal and secure system. Powered by X-Road software, it features a transparent data transport layer with a consent management system that allows individual consumers to choose who to share data with, the purposes it is used for, and view who has accessed the data. Individuals can also track their personal energy consumption, and what energy they have produced. e platform also provides access to other data, such as stock market electricity prices, and weather forecasts, to help energy service providers and other market players optimise or innovate new services. Estafeed went live in September 2017 and each month consumers give about 500 to 1,000 consents to access their data. According to Elering, the data has allowed companies to innovate more personalised services that lower consumer energy bills. For example, building monitoring service providers have accessed data to optimise consumption and lower energy costs in business buildings. Energy consumption data has been shared with energy package comparison tools and electricity and gas suppliers to create personalised offers and enable consumer switching. Dr Richard Dobson, practice manager – data systems, at the Energy Systems Catapult, tells Flex: "As a secure data communications platform, X-Road underpins the smart metering system in Estonia and means that all consumers have complete visibility of what's going on with their data. ey have the ability to say 'I would like organisation X, Y or Z to access my data' and then remove that access at any time. It is really exciting." Estonia is already a pioneer in smart meters, having achieved 100 per cent coverage in homes and businesses back in 2014. Recent developments in EU regulation, including the General Data Protection Reform and the Clean Energy Package have sparked wider interest in Estafeed. Elering now plans to expand the system to connect to 100 million electricity meters across Europe by 2020.

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