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NETWORK / 25 / NOVEMBER 2019 John Scott, an independent consultant at Chiltern Power and a former technical director at Ofgem, will be one of the panel of judges for the Network Awards 2020, on 17 March in Birmingham. What does he hope to fi nd in this year's crop of entries? Q What should "business as usual" look like? A Business as Usual requires scaling-up and moving beyond proof-of- concept demonstrations. It would be great to see entries that show how strategies and designs for scaling-up have been incorporated and assessed. Q Which themes do you hope will be refl ected in the entries? A There is huge uncertainty ahead for all parties in the sector, which is why we talk of transformation rather than incremental change. It would be a most encouraging sign to see innovations that are adaptive to change, that are designed to recognise and learn from uncertainty, and so contribute to emergent development processes. Q Which themes need an awareness boost? A Digital skills are now being recognised as a new requirement for the future, and it is good to see that Ofgem has recently asked the network companies to include a digitalisation strategy in their RIIO-2 business plans. This raises a big challenge for the companies: when you get beyond the headlines. What exactly are these skills, do they need to be held in house, is it wise to buy them as a service from a third party, and are they best developed by training, by recruitment, or by partnering? There are risks here for the utility companies if they are late to the party, or have not equipped themselves to be informed buyers. Q In today's complex market, what are the dominant issues that entrants should be responding to? A Genuine forward-looking, customer-serving innovation requires that the gaps between the internal silos are addressed, so that technical and commercial "system of systems" coordinated solutions can be achieved. This is still waiting for policy-maker intervention and for Ofgem to take a searching look at its role in a transforming sector. A job for the new [Ofgem] chief executive's to-do list we might hope? Q Will the entries show that today's grid is becoming"smart", fl exible and innovative? A It would be most encouraging to see innovation submissions that fi ll some of the yawning gaps in today's sector. One example would be projects that assist companies not only to move towards DSO roles and greater network fl exibility, but in doing this to look beyond their licence boundary walls. For example, engaging with parties and technologies on the customer side of the meter, and with community energy enterprises (see page 10-12). Visit networkawards.co.uk for full details of the 15 catego- ries, and to start your online submission. Entry deadline is 29 November. N E T W O R K AWA R D S Q & A "There are risks of being late to the digital party" AWARDS 2020 platforms to buy solutions for managing local constraints, and fault level maintenance. National Grid ESO would also have a wider range of providers to choose from when procuring frequency response, operating reserve or replacement reserve. For a long time, the sector (and more recently Ofgem) have been looking for solutions to reduce the o• en lengthy process to connect new generators to the networks. These proposed trad- ing platforms could also help to provide a solution to this. Connection capacity Traditionally, network com- panies build new connections with a presumption that once the generator is linked to the grid it will use its connection continually. However that isn't always the case, particularly for renewables. For example, a solar generator is unlikely to need the connection a• er sunset each day, and may be prepared to trade some of its capacity with a storage opera- tor that can provide electricity during peak demand hours. In cases like this, capacity that is not being fully used could be traded through the exchanges at market-based prices. Trials of how ƒ exibility platforms will work in practice are expected to get underway once government announces the winners of its £4m ƒ exibility exchange competition. The FleX competition, launched by the BEIS in January, will support the development and demon- stration of innovation solutions to value and trade ƒ exibility. Elexon has a key role to play here by providing our expertise in managing electricity settle- ment, and providing knowledge of the central market arrange- ments to the winning platforms. As an industry we need to start preparing for the full roll out of the platforms, applying best practice from the trials. Elexon is ready to work with network operators, the compa- nies that provide the technology on which the platforms operate, the DNOs, and aggregators to roll out the platforms nationally. We believe that Ofgem could support this by establishing a regulatory framework to deter- mine responsibilities of parties that want to use the exchanges, and how they should be oper- ated and funded. The platforms will bring pro- viders and buyers of ƒ exibility together in a way that isn't cur- rently possible. They also oŒ er ways to ensure that we capture the beneŽ ts that ƒ exibility oŒ ers in making the electricity system more e' cient. The development of national platforms is the sort of ground-breaking change we must encourage in the sector, to help meet the government's target for "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050. As an indus- try it is crucial that we all work together to make the exchanges a reality. DECENTRALISATION FUTURE OF FLEXIBILITY