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NETWORK / 33 / APRIL/MAY 2020 there is an excess, and genera- tors losing revenue, Nicholls says. Next steps The LEM's post-trial future is yet to be decided. The European Regional Development Fund provided £11.5 millionExter, so another investor will need to be found following the UK's depar- ture from the EU. WPD has so far covered the costs of its par- ticipation in the LEM through its network innovation allowance from Ofgem. Discussions are now underway with WPD about using the LEM to source flexibil- ity as part of normal operations, says Nicholls. Centrica is working on a plan to commercialise the LEM, which could be as a soˆware service solution, or the tech - nology could be licensed, he says. The team is also looking at international applicability, including in Europe and North America. Research is also underway on the possibility of peer-to- peer trading using the LEM, with a trial due later this year. "We've designed the platform so you could replace the DNO as a buyer with any business. There's barriers in the way from a regulatory perspective, but if Western Power can buy flex - ibility, why can't a wind farm?" he says. 'Every new house should have solar panels' Cornish residents, retired law lecturer David Corns (right) and his wife Anna installed their first solar panels on their converted farmhouse on Bodmin Moor ten years ago. They now have two arrays – one on the main house roof and one on Mrs Corns' studio in the garden. They also have a biomass boiler, and a second-hand electric car, a 42kWh Renault Zoe. In 2018, Centrica installed a 7.5kW Sonnen battery system which charges from the solar PV and is connected to its LEM. As a lifelong environmentalist with a keen interest in energy issues, Mr Corn was aware of the potential for home energy systems to provide power to the grid. He had already been considering buying a battery system, but could not afford it, so he jumped at the chance to be involved in the LEM. "I was really chuffed to take part in a proof of concept project like this," he says. "Every new house should have solar panels or Tesla tiles, or better still, a battery like this one, as that would go a long way towards helping out." The Corns' battery is one of 100 to be installed on Cornish homes as part of the LEM. When aggregated, they form the largest virtual power plant (VPP) in the country. The batteries are set to automatically maximise the property's consumption of electricity from the PV panels, with the excess then traded under the remote control of the VPP. As the LEM is still at trial stage, the homeowners are not yet being paid for providing the flexibility services, but are benefiting from the free equipment. In the meantime, Centrica is gathering the data, including what the financial rewards would be. The Corns make around £1,200 a year from the feed-in-tariff, and also save money on electricity bills from the solar panels, though it's hard to quantify how much, Mr Corns says. The EV is currently not connected to the LEM. "I'm hoping that it will be in the long run. The Zoe has a 42kWh battery, so amalgamated with the battery, you'd have nearly 52kWh. That would be brilliant – help the grid and maybe earn a few pennies," he says. David says that he has already noticed the solar panels charging his new battery to 100 per cent, adding that "this will reduce bills to some extent" with further benefit anticipated in the summer. He hopes that there will be future phases of the LEM that could involve his electric car, and also peer-to-peer trading. "I'm sure that not far down the line people will be encouraged to use their batteries and their electric cars to provide power to the grid when it needs it. I'm very much up for doing all of those things." "At the moment, National Grid ESO buys flexibility blind, without knowing what impact it will have on the network - potentially it could be exacerbating the balancing challenge for the DNO." DAN NICHOLLS, PROGRAMME MANAGER OF THE CORNWALL LOCAL ENERGY MARKET The LEM has proved ideal for the ice factory LOCALISED ENERGY

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