Utility Week

32 | APRIL 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Operational Excellence Analysis Net zero: partnerships and technology will win the day Net zero is a once in a generation opportunity to transform the energy system. A high-level report, in association with Microsoft and Accenture, explores how digital technology and partnership working can help the sector accelerate and scale up to deliver the net carbon transition affordably. T he low-carbon transition is rightly at the very top of today's economic and social agenda and with the UK commit- ted to hitting net zero by 2050, all eyes are on the energy sector, which can make the most significant impact on decarbonisation. There is a need to maximise the value of new and existing generation and distribu- tion infrastructure and balance the system through greater flexibility, both at national and local levels. Greater capacity is required to handle a mass uptick of electric vehicles and the longer-term switch to electric heat- ing systems, also adding in new capabilities for storage and demand-side response. These challenges are tough, but not insurmountable, which is why Microso‚ and Accenture, working with Avanade, their joint venture partner, are helping utilities go deep on sustainability and the transition to net zero through an integrated five-pillar approach to decarbonisation. The strategy aims to demonstrate how partnership working and open data can drastically accelerate innovation and develop solutions that are both scalable and repeatable within three to five years. Budgets are tight, particularly as businesses and cus- tomers firefight damage to the economy by the pandemic, but the low carbon economy can be seen as an opportunity to jump-start recovery and build new skills for our future with digital solutions that can avoid over- whelming investments in new infrastructure. Toby Siddall, managing director for Accenture's Resources business in the UK and Ireland, comments: "The integrated approach to decarbonisation can lead to growth, new skills and competitiveness for the UK. The pandemic has accelerated a profound evolution of what value really means to people; it's about the planet and sustainability. "It's also about equality and opportu- nity and we will see consumers rewarding the corporations that are authentic about it. Microso‚ and Accenture believe digitisation, open data and new partnership approaches can drive the step changes we need across our industry." Leading light The UK wants to become a global trailblazer for a zero carbon society and policy mak- ers have started to fill in the blanks on how that might happen. Boris Johnson's Ten- point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, revealed in November, includes targets to quadruple offshore wind, to 40GW, and cre- ate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. It envisions investment in large-scale nuclear and the next generation of small and advanced reactors, plus carbon capture to remove 10MT of carbon dioxide by 2030. A more detailed route map, published by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), official advisers to Whitehall, anticipates half of cars on the road being electric by 2030 and all electricity being either renewable or nuclear a further five years down the line. The CCC said cost savings from ending reliance on oil and gas would almost offset the £50 bil- lion-a-year investment needed to switch to low-carbon power, transport and home heating by 2030, but it said more action is required from the government to make sure it happens. Rachel McEwen, chief sustainability officer at electricity generation and distribu- tion company SSE and who is working with Microso‚ and Accenture, explains: "The government, the regulators and companies, need to be super smart in designing policies that are predictable and give clear enough signals to the market to respond to. We've got just ten years to organise ourselves and make sure the systems can cope with the level of additional demand." A more joined-up approach could help spearhead advancing technologies, like arti- ficial intelligence, the internet of things, digi- tal twins and smart grid solutions, which can optimise and enhance existing systems and infrastructure, and provide better visibility of their operation. Rik Irons-Mclean, strategy director for manufacturing, energy & resources UK at Microso‚, comments: "A ra‚ of new tech- nology is either available or emerging, but it must be viewed in the context of actual business problems that need to be solved. Partnerships like the one between Microso‚ and Accenture can better harness customer and industry domain expertise to accelerate adoption and develop appropriate skill sets. This acceleration is needed if the UK energy ambitions are to be realised." SSE Renewables has aggressively explored the potential of a range of technolo- gies, through its partnership with Microso‚ and Accenture subsidiary Avanade, includ- ing the use of AI to monitor and count puf- fins, which are on the red list of UK Birds of Conservation Concern, as part of consent conditions. The company has harnessed sat- ellite imagery and geospatial processing to understand the condition of terrestrial assets like ditches and canals and tunnels. The next set of use cases in development includes the use of digital twins to optimise wind farms and improve worker safety. The integrated approach being champi-

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