Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 7TH - 13TH FEBRUARY 2020 | 9 Utility of the Future: Business models and skills The Utility of the Future is also the theme of Utility Week Live taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on 19-20 May. Visit www.utilityweeklive.co.uk for more information. tions, or carbon intensity. They will also need to provide the physical trading platform for peer-to-peer local trad- ing in the energy market. In July, Ofgem's open letter to the ENA speci• cally said that the DNOs needed to improve operational moni- toring data and communications infrastructure. The Energy Data Taskforce report, published in the same month, also called for a signi• cant shi• in the DNOs' and ESO's attitude to data, with a presumption that it should be "discoverable, searchable, understandable", and use standardised data structures and interfaces. In December 2019, in a move timed to coincide with the submission of RIIO2 business plans by gas network operators and the ESO, all the DNOs published their out- line digitalisation strategies discussing their progress towards the taskforce's goals. At Smarter Grid Solutions, however, Ault says some of its DNO customers are already fully exploiting its DERMS so• ware to manage generation, Š exibility, storage and even the interface with EV charging operators, but acknowledges that stepping up further on data accessi- bility could be a challenge. "The DSOs will also need big, generalised data platforms. Data will create challenges for DNOs – they will want to be cyber-secure, and main- tain commercial con• dentiality." At Northern Powergrid, Cardwell says the company is making headway: "We have increased our work on data and digitalisation; we see that as an underpinning tech- nology enabler. We have invested, hired new sta• and reallocated sta• . "At the moment, we are looking at the art of the pos- sible. Some of our data is quite old school, it's in spread- sheets and tables – we want to take it forward to an open data environment, and expect that to happen collabora- tively across DSOs to achieve common approaches." At Š exibility provider Kaluza, however, Maher-McWil- liams fears that much of the data that will unlock inno- vation in networks simply doesn't exist. "They are making existing data sets more accessi- ble and their network needs more transparency, but in key areas we just don't have the network data required to develop a truly smart grid. This is particularly true at lower voltages and the DNOs need to invest in more net- work monitoring so• ware." In general, Maher-McWilliams sees progress as frus- tratingly slow: "There are some early stage pilots, and some DNOs are investing, but the scope is so small at the moment. The scale of the upgrade – and the fact that data is certain to be a vital part of the future DSO role – means it is something they should be investing in now, even in the absence of other certainties." In ENW's patch, Bircham describes how it is invest- ing in new £20 million network management system (NMS) so• ware, delivered in partnership with Schnei- der Electric, and due to go live later this year. The sys- tem will give ENW full real-time data on network loading and capacity, and also generate the data sets that can be shared with external providers. "It's a next generation NMS, speci• cally designed to support our activities as a DSO," Bircham says. "As we move to a world with more generation and more Š exible demand-side response, that real-time understanding will be essential. We anticipate that all the DNOs will need this kind of step-change in RIIO-ED2". Flex auctions All of the DNOs have also adopted one of the clear- est signs of transition: Š exibility auctions. By setting up tender processes for storage or generating capac- ity in locations with network constraints, the DNO can defer capital investment – while being compensated by • nancial allowances from Ofgem. In doing so, they are creating routes to market for a range of new players: community energy projects, the aggregators of new-style "prosumers" or EV charge point operators. At WPD, Turvey was speaking shortly a• er the com- pany launched the largest auction yet, at 334MW. He acknowledges there is more to do, but feels that its "Flex- ible Power" brand is on track. "In our most recent tender, we had more participants looking to apply, so there is more con• dence in the mar- ketplace. But it's important to come up with a product that is simple to understand, has simple terms and lia- bilities, and is predictable – all these things help to build con• dence in a long-term market." However, at the REA, Gordon says the fanfare over the • rst auctions shouldn't disguise the fact that they repre- sent a fraction of the scale needed. "We'd like to see the DNOs do more to become an ena- bler of the low carbon energy system. The auctions are at too small a scale to stimulate the market – they're still pilots, there isn't even a recurring programme in place. They should be an order of magnitude higher, for net- work stability." In evidence, he points to the big blackout in August last year when a lightning strike tripped a lot of genera- tion plant o• the system. "A lot of capacity came o¤ ine, but energy storage came on to prop up the system; 500 MW helped to so• en the blow of the blackout." Flex providers themselves fear the auctions o• er nei- ther the scale nor the contractual terms they need. At the larger end of the scale, LimeJump o• ers aggre- gated capacity from a network of industrial and commer- cial clients, selling mainly to National Grid's Balancing Mechanism. So far, it has just one signed contract in place with a DNO. Its chief executive, Erik Nygard, argues that the size of the market just isn't large enough to jus- tify acquiring capacity at the smaller DNO scale. "There is not enough market size, they're kind of dab- bling and testing. It is only worthwhile for us to take part when we have customer assets that are contracted to do other stu• [on the wholesale markets or Balancing Mech- continued overleaf "We're actively managing distributed energy resources, not passively. I'm not sure there's a point you pass when you say yesterday we weren't but now we are, but we feel we are now acting as a DSO." Jim Cardwell, head of regulation and strategy, Northern Powergrid "We're actively managing distributed energy resources, not passively. I'm not sure there's a point you pass when you say yesterday we weren't but now we are, but we feel we are now acting as a DSO." , head of regulation and strategy, Northern Powergrid

• Cover