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NETWORK / 30 / APRIL/MAY 2020 business case for the floating wind in terms of alleviating con- straint, and for us, it's another flexibility asset on the network." The projects are the latest part of Cornwall Local Energy Market (LEM) a county-wide project coordinated by Centrica and aimed at trialling multiple solutions to one of renewable energy's biggest challenges – how to increase the penetration of energy sources that generate intermittently, and o€en not when power is needed. Centrica's LEM project has installed solar panels, bat - tery storage units and other LOCAL ENERGY The prosumers of Penzance Local energy strategies are increasingly touted as the way forward for a low carbon energy system incorporating many decentralised energy resources. Catherine Early reports on developments from one of the UK's biggest local energy demonstrators, Centrica's Cornwall-based Local Energy Market KEY POINTS l Launched in 2016, Cen- trica's LEM project involves 100 homes and around 125 industrial and commercial customers l Since the LEM project began nearly 80MWh of flexible clean energy has been dis- patched through its technol- ogy platform and the project has supported installation of 5MW of decentralised renew- able energy. l The LEM platform has spe- cial capability for balancing transmission and distribution interests l Looking to the future, Western Power Distribution is looking to utilise flexibility procured via LEM in BAU operations and project lead- ers are considering how the platform might support peer- to-peer energy trading 2016. The smart-grid connected turbine, located next to the A30, will not only help Cornwall power the equivalent of around 1,180 homes, but will also help better manage its energy supply. A 1MW battery has also been installed in Hayle to support Wave Hub, a Cornwall Coun - cil project to help developers test wave and offshore wind energy technologies in open sea conditions. Hayle is the most constrained area on the Cornish network, explains Dan Nicholls, programme manager of the Cornwall Local Energy Market "The battery should help the C ornwall has long been known for its natural resources, tin, clay and cop - per to name but a few. In more mod- ern times, it is the sun, wind, wave and geothermal resources that have increasingly promised a bright future for the county, both for decarbonisa- tion and jobs. The county's high uptake of renewable energy has been posi- tive for the environment and the local economy. Cornwall now generates around 37 per cent of electricity from renewables, up from around six per cent in 2009. However, in recent years, the volume of renewable electric - ity generated has led to grid congestion, and renewable technologies have had to be curtailed. This reduces both decarbonisation potential and the business case for developers wanting to build them. Unlocking congestion But Cornwall's grid constraints are beginning to be unblocked. Construction is now underway at the 2.3MW Ventonteague wind turbine, the county's first since Newlyn harbour, where power from the LEM is used to run an ice factory to supply fishermen

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