Utility Week

10 | 8TH - 14TH NOVEMBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Utility of the future: Regulation Analysis manufacturers, who are independent parties, yet both need to know how to integrate their data, their automa- tion and their controls to meet the needs of local and national grids, enabling flexibility and balancing supply and demand. Whose job is it to co-ordinate that? It's not just the network companies; it's not just the charging point manufacturers," says Scott. Government initiatives That said, the government would argue that it has acted to protect consumers and the grid against the risk of variable standards and inadequate protection with the introduction of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018, which it is envisaged will be enacted by a variety of statutory instruments over the coming years. The act was intended to both facilitate an uptake of EVs and set minimum standards, which will be phased in as required. The general approach of the act is to focus on desired outcomes without prescribing specific techno- logical solutions, so as not to "hinder innovation in this early and rapidly evolving market". As Jeff Hardy discusses in the recently published working paper Electricity Storage & Electric Vehicles (https://bit.ly/3332HWZ), the preferred approach out- lined in a recent consultation on electric vehicle smart charging is in the first phase to mandate that all new non- public charge points be required to have smart func- tionality and meet a minimum set of standards. A second phase would see the requirements extended to the oper- ators of the charge points. The consultation seeks views on the proposed regulations for the first phase (which will initially require compliance with British Standards Institute standards currently under development). Gov- ernment holds the view that there is not yet enough evidence to determine what the long-term requirements of the second phase should be, so the consultation also contains a call for evidence. Philip New, chief executive of the Energy Systems continued from previous page Meet the UOTF Advisory Board Philip New, chief executive, Energy Systems Catapult. Before joining in November 2015, New worked for BP for over 30 years in a range of commercial and general manage- ment positions. He started working in the clean tech sector in 2002, eventually becoming CEO of BP Alternative Energy. He is a commissioner on the global Energy Transitions Commission and a member of the Global Future Council on Energy and the World Economic Forum. Dr Jeffrey Hardy, a senior research fellow at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London, is an ambitious proponent of change in the energy systems. His research centres on what the future low carbon energy system might look like, how people will engage with it and what businesses will be operating in it. He is also a non-executive director at Public Power Solutions, a low-carbon power and waste company. Previously he was head of sustainable energy futures at Ofgem. Laura Sandys, chief executive, Challenging Ideas, runs the 21st Century Energy Regulatory Com- mission with Imperial College and is deputy chair of the Food Standards Agency. She is co-founder of POWERful Women, a visiting senior fellow at Kings College and a fel- low of the Energy Institute. She was previously an MP for South Thanet and was a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Commit- tee and parliamentary private secretary to the Minister for Energy and Climate Change. John Scott is director of Chiltern Power, an independent consul- tancy. He has 45 years' experience of electricity distribution, transmis- sion and regulation. His previous roles include director of engineering at National Grid, technical director at Ofgem, and director of network innovation for Kema Consulting. Stuart Newstead is chief executive of Ellere, a consultancy he set up in 2002. He has a 30-year record as a senior corporate executive and consultant. He is a digital and telecoms expert and provides strategic and Catapult, says that the EV Energy Taskforce, which he chairs, is coming up with recommendations about ena- bling the steps and functions that need to be put in place. The three big topics are: the importance of making sure smart charging is safe and secure; the importance of enabling interoperable solutions to emerge; and the importance of having a more planned approach, particu- larly at local level. "The difficulty here is, as always, getting the balance right: if you over-prescribe things, you can kill innova- tion, but if you under-prescribe, you get the Wild West. Making sure there's enough room to innovate is impor- tant. For example, the architecture of potential smart charging systems is very complex. Many different actors and system functions can combine in different ways to deliver outcomes, so the emphasis in the EV Energy Taskforce has been to avoid prescribing how outcomes are delivered and instead offer proposals on the condi- tions necessary to enable market actors to collaborate to best effect." The DSO transition Another key area for an oversight body, according to our board, would be to drive the transition of DNOs to DSOs. Although there have been a number of successful projects in the sector, "I've seen nothing at the moment which suggests there is the capability to scale up," said one board member. "RIIO2 will include a requirement for a digitalisation strategy, but might this stop at the meter? It makes no sense to do so in a whole-system con- text. A further challenge is that it is not clear how net- works will make money in this new DSO and digitalised business model." Says Scott: "Ofgem's current Energy Codes Review is timely for addressing some of these core challenges. The review is an opportunity to implement more agile change processes and, in the context of whole-system thinking, continued on p14 "The emphasis in the EV Energy Task- force has been to avoid prescribing how out- comes are delivered and instead offer proposals on the conditions necessary to enable market actors to collaborate to best effect" PHILIP NEW, ENERGY SYSTEMS CATAPULT

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