Utility Week

38 | MARCH 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Operational Excellence Analysis Do no harm: investing for net zero Can the massive network infrastructure investment needed for net zero be delivered without creating adverse impacts on public engagement or the environment? In a new report, Utility Week and Hitachi ABB Powergrids, explore the challenge. W ith every passing month taking us closer to 2050 and that year's net zero greenhouse gas emissions goal, the scale of the challenge presented by the energy transition comes into clearer focus – and so too does the scale of expec- tation and responsibility converging on our electricity network operators. Tomorrow's grid will stand as the lynch- pin for many interdependent low or no- carbon energy vectors, from heat to road and rail transportation. In this world, the significance of electricity to our social and economic wellbeing is dramatically ramped up from an already critical position today, demanding massive capital investment in new and existing assets to ensure the future power system can keep up with the converg- ing dependencies being placed on it. In the current decade, responsibility for a large amount of this capital investment lies at the door of power transmission operators who must facilitate a boom in offshore wind capacity, underpinned by major new energy storage on land, and also lay the foundations for a new hydrogen economy to bridge the divide between power and gas infrastructure with industrial-scale electrolysers. But this investment cannot be delivered haphazardly. To maintain legitimacy with the public and ensure that decarbonisation does not lead to broader adverse effects on the nat- ural world, new and refurbished assets must be delivered with attention to details such as aesthetics and impact on biodiversity. In a new report – Catch 2050: the Power System Investment Challenge in the Race to Net Zero – Utility Week, in association with Hitachi ABB Powergrids, explores this pre- carious interplay between the mounting pressure on utility capital delivery teams and the need to introduce new sensitivity and ingenuity into their processes. With a particular focus on the pressing challenges facing transmission operators, the report draws on the expert views of industry leaders, regulators and former policymak- ers to profile the important work underway to transform today's planning, approval and delivery regimes to ensure critical invest- ments are made effectively, and at pace. The report also profiles the significant steps many companies (including SSEN, see interview opposite) are taking to safeguard against any risk that the substantial visual impact of large-scale network infrastruc- ture investment could alienate communi- ties or individuals from the net zero cause, or create environmental detriment beyond the relatively narrow sustainability lens of decarbonisation. To inspire networks to go further in this vein, the report includes international examples of network capital projects which have broken the mould when it comes to traditional asset design and ambitiously attempted to reshape public perceptions of the role assets can play in their communities – both urban and rural. For Ian Funnell, chief executive of Hitachi ABB Powergrids, the combined challenges of large-scale infrastructure delivery, new tech- nology, sustainability and social acceptabil- ity are an exciting mix. "We're going to be investing hundreds of billions into the energy sector over the next 30 years," he says. "So it is one of the grand challenges of our time, and that's what makes it so exciting. It is a technological challenge, but it's also a societal challenge, because it covers almost every aspect of our lives… it's fantastic." Visit www.utilityweek.co.uk to download the report today. Hitachi ABB Powergrids is collaborating with network industry partners to launch a "substation of the future" design competition. It aims to change public perceptions about the relationship between power networks and the environment and to raise awareness about the role of utilities in the net zero transition. These images show "art of the possible" design concepts.

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